Polysaccharides from bioagro-waste for new biomolecules

Abstract

Polysaccharides are the main chemical components of several kinds of agro-wastes including food processing residues and agricultural wastes. These types of biomass are produced in huge amounts every year and therefore represent a global environmental issue. The exploitation of agro-wastes as rich sources of valuable polysaccharides, according to the biorefinery approach, could afford both a strategy for waste minimizing and a more sustainable production of energy and chemicals. As a matter of fact, indeed polysaccharides are traditionally used in a wide range of production chains, for example, in food, pharmaceutical, material, or packaging industries. In this chapter, besides a brief overview of more abundant agro-wastes produced in the world and of their annual production, some remarkable examples of already implemented or possible biotechnological uses of waste polysaccharides are presented.