Valorization of brewery waste

Abstract

Waste management is a critical and important issue for the food industry related to the issues of environmental protection, pollution prevention and process economy. Utilization of waste and by-products for the production of high value-added products becomes compulsory due to economic and environmental issues. Since brewery industry generates large amounts of organic wastes, breweries make investments for the management of wastes according to the environmental regulations forced by the rules of the countries. Although brewery waste is a negative cost factor for brewery industry, its rich content of complex carbohydrates, nitrogen and minerals opens avenues to the production of biotechnological products such as biofuel, enzymes, organic acids and bioactive compounds. In this review, different types of brewery waste and by products are defined and alternative valorization methods and utilization strategies in biotechnological processes are explained.