Enzyme technologies for bioconversion of food processing by-products

Abstract

Food processing wastes are as diverse and varied as the types of food itself and depend strongly on the product and production technologies employed. While wastes from the canning industry or breweries might contain high concentrations of sugars and starch, those from the meat processing industry are typically rich in proteins and fat. Similarly, there are also differences in the waste streams according to the geographical location and the seasons. All these factors contribute to the difficulty in developing recovery and reutilization technologies. Nevertheless, the very fact that the waste streams are rich in proteins, fats, and sugars fit for consumption by animals/microbes and are nontoxic makes them good feedstock for valorization using biotechnological interventions. Apparently, such streams after proper treatments using biological agents, including enzymes or whole cells, can serve as excellent sources of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or other biomaterials of commercial interest. Valuable products such as antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, vitamins, biopolymers, biosurfactants, solvents, fuels, and compounds with therapeutic and cosmetic applications have indeed been produced on different food processing wastes (Moure et al. 2001; Schieber et al. 2001; Khardenavis et al. 2007; Daverey and Pakshirajan 2009; Widmer et al. 2010).