Sustainable bioconversion of food waste into high-value products by immobilized enzymes to meet bio-economy challenges and opportunities – A review

Publication date: Available online 30 April 2019Source: Food Research InternationalAuthor(s): Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz M.N. IqbalAbstractOver the past few years, food waste has intensified much attention from the local public, national and international organizations as well as a wider household territory due to increasing environmental, social and economic concerns, climate change and scarcity of fossil fuel resources. On one aspect, food-processing waste represents a substantial ecological burden. On the other hand, these waste streams are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, thus hold significant potential for biotransformation into an array of high-value compounds. Indeed, the high sugar, protein, and fat content render food waste streams as attractive feedstocks for enzymatic valorization given the plentiful volumes generated annually. Enzymes as industrial biocatalysts offer unique advantages over traditional chemical processes with regard to eco-sustainability, and process efficiency. Herein, an effort has been made to delineate immobilized enzyme-driven valorization of food waste streams into marketable products such as biofuels, bioactive compounds, biodegradable plastics, prebiotics, sweeteners, rare sugars, surfactants, etc. Current challenges and prospects are also highlighted with respect to the development of industrially adaptable biocatalytic systems to achieve the ultimate objectives of sustainable manufacturing combined with minimum waste generation. Ap...
Source: Food Research International - Category: Food Science Source Type: research