Potential Utilisation of Fruit and Vegetable
Waste: An Overview
R. Reshmy, Eapen Philip, Aravind Madhavan, Raveendran Sindhu,
Parameswaran Binod, Palanisamy Athiyaman Balakumaran,
and Ashok Pandey
Abstract
Reducing food waste by maximum resource utilization
creates good impacts for food security, environment, and
climate. Fruit and vegetables are among the most
commonly used commodities of all horticultural crops.
Therefore, all wastes could be considered as a desirable
byproduct if sufficient technological means are used to
increase the value of subsequent goods to outweigh their
processing costs. Fruit and vegetable wastes have a strong
bioconversion potential into useful industrial, biotechnological, bioenergy, and biocontrol products. This waste
can serve as a valuable source of organic carbons,
essential oils, pigments, and enzymes that can be used to
produce valuable chemicals and compounds of high
value. The chapter discusses the strategies adopted for
bioconversion like recycling, reprocessing, and eventual
use of their discharge into the environment which could
cause adverse effects on the environment. A variety of
valuable materials produced by the bioconversion of fruit
and vegetable wastes are also enlisted to highlight the
food waste management prospects.
Keywords
Bioconversion Á Value-added product Á Pigments Á
Bioplastics Á Bioethanol
1 Introduction
In the modern world, driven by an increase in economic
advancement and global population, demand for fruits and
vegetables has increased, and this trend is likely to lead to
the development of valuable products from its residues in the
coming future (Wadhwa et al. 2015). Massive research
works have been conducted in recent years to use fruit and
vegetable wastes (FVW) to develop highly significant bioproducts. The sustainable bioconversion of fruit and vegetable into useful goods not only provides economic benefits
and moreover reduces the pollution caused by the decomposition of fruit and vegetable in the landfill sites and surroundings. The main solid wastes from fruits and vegetables
are potato and tomato waste, grape and apple pomace, and
peels. FVW contain more cellulose, starch, monosaccharide,
and lignin compared to liquid fruit and vegetable in which
nutrients are in diluted form. During the last few years,
biofuel production using alternative feedstocks to traditional
fossil raw materials has attracted considerable interest. FVW
are considered to be a raw material with low procurement
costs that contribute to the creation of an innovative
paradigm.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (UN-FAO) stated that at least one-third of the
world’s food products are wasted each year and among this,
horticultural commodities are the maximum (Fidelis 2018).
The waste to wealth approach is currently being implemented in most of the developed countries that led to solve
their waste management problems. The key challenges for
the conversion of FVW to valuable products are
their heterogeneous nature and high moisture content. On
R. Reshmy Á E. Philip
Post Graduate and Research Department of Chemistry,
Bishop Moore College, Mavelikara 690 110, Kerala, India
A. Madhavan
Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Jagathy,
Thiruvananthapuram 695 014, Kerala, India
R. Sindhu (&) Á P. Binod Á P. A. Balakumaran
Microbial Processes and Technology Division, CSIR-National
Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology
(CSIR-NIIST), Trivandrum 695 019, Kerala, India
e-mail: sindhurgcb@gmail.com; sindhufax@yahoo.co.in
A. Pandey
Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR—Indian
Institute for Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), 31 MG Marg,
Lucknow 226 001, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_11
179
Waste: An Overview
R. Reshmy, Eapen Philip, Aravind Madhavan, Raveendran Sindhu,
Parameswaran Binod, Palanisamy Athiyaman Balakumaran,
and Ashok Pandey
Abstract
Reducing food waste by maximum resource utilization
creates good impacts for food security, environment, and
climate. Fruit and vegetables are among the most
commonly used commodities of all horticultural crops.
Therefore, all wastes could be considered as a desirable
byproduct if sufficient technological means are used to
increase the value of subsequent goods to outweigh their
processing costs. Fruit and vegetable wastes have a strong
bioconversion potential into useful industrial, biotechnological, bioenergy, and biocontrol products. This waste
can serve as a valuable source of organic carbons,
essential oils, pigments, and enzymes that can be used to
produce valuable chemicals and compounds of high
value. The chapter discusses the strategies adopted for
bioconversion like recycling, reprocessing, and eventual
use of their discharge into the environment which could
cause adverse effects on the environment. A variety of
valuable materials produced by the bioconversion of fruit
and vegetable wastes are also enlisted to highlight the
food waste management prospects.
Keywords
Bioconversion Á Value-added product Á Pigments Á
Bioplastics Á Bioethanol
1 Introduction
In the modern world, driven by an increase in economic
advancement and global population, demand for fruits and
vegetables has increased, and this trend is likely to lead to
the development of valuable products from its residues in the
coming future (Wadhwa et al. 2015). Massive research
works have been conducted in recent years to use fruit and
vegetable wastes (FVW) to develop highly significant bioproducts. The sustainable bioconversion of fruit and vegetable into useful goods not only provides economic benefits
and moreover reduces the pollution caused by the decomposition of fruit and vegetable in the landfill sites and surroundings. The main solid wastes from fruits and vegetables
are potato and tomato waste, grape and apple pomace, and
peels. FVW contain more cellulose, starch, monosaccharide,
and lignin compared to liquid fruit and vegetable in which
nutrients are in diluted form. During the last few years,
biofuel production using alternative feedstocks to traditional
fossil raw materials has attracted considerable interest. FVW
are considered to be a raw material with low procurement
costs that contribute to the creation of an innovative
paradigm.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (UN-FAO) stated that at least one-third of the
world’s food products are wasted each year and among this,
horticultural commodities are the maximum (Fidelis 2018).
The waste to wealth approach is currently being implemented in most of the developed countries that led to solve
their waste management problems. The key challenges for
the conversion of FVW to valuable products are
their heterogeneous nature and high moisture content. On
R. Reshmy Á E. Philip
Post Graduate and Research Department of Chemistry,
Bishop Moore College, Mavelikara 690 110, Kerala, India
A. Madhavan
Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Jagathy,
Thiruvananthapuram 695 014, Kerala, India
R. Sindhu (&) Á P. Binod Á P. A. Balakumaran
Microbial Processes and Technology Division, CSIR-National
Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology
(CSIR-NIIST), Trivandrum 695 019, Kerala, India
e-mail: sindhurgcb@gmail.com; sindhufax@yahoo.co.in
A. Pandey
Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR—Indian
Institute for Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), 31 MG Marg,
Lucknow 226 001, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_11
179