Αγροβιομηχανικά απόβλητα και μη εδώδιμα μέρη φυτών ως πηγή φαινολικών συστατικών με εφαρμογές στη βιομηχανία τροφίμων

Abstract

The production of plant origin foods is accompanied with the disposal of significant amounts of agricultural wastes. Furthermore, non-edible parts of plants are also unexplored or used as products of low value eg animal feed, compost etc. Recently, researchers attempt to establish strategies to valorize agricultural wastes and unexplored plants for the recovery of valuable constituents producing high value products. These wastes are a rich source of polyphenols, which are widely distributed in plant kingdom, correlated with diverse health effects and able to improve the sensory attributes of foods. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility to exploit the agricultural wastes and non-edible parts of plant to recovery polyphenols for food industry. The present work focuses on the byproducts of vine, almond trees, oak, olive tree, citrus tree, arbutus, cornelian cherry, hawthorn, lotus, terebinth, mastic tree, loquat tree, mulberry, peach tree, pomegranate tree, fig tree, peanut, prickly pear and carob tree. These byproducts mainly contain phenolic acids and flavonoids; anthocyanins and tannins are found at lower concentrations. The recovery of polyphenols is implemented with the employment of common and advanced extraction methods; the choice of extraction method is depended on the nature of material and the structure of recovered polyphenol. These polyphenols are used to inhibit lipid oxidation and microbial growth in foods, to improve the nutritional value, to develop new food packaging materials, and to prevent the formation of toxic compounds during food processing. In addition, they also used to produce dietary supplements. Overall, the present thesis can be used as a comprehensive guide for the recovery and valorization of polyphenols for food industry.