Recovery and reuse of trimmings and pulps from fruit and vegetable processing

Publisher Summary Fruit and vegetable processing (preservation or production of juice, wine, sugar, starch, oil, etc.) generates huge amounts of wastes. Vegetable wastes are also often spread on land or composted. These wastes have high water content and are consequently perishable and microbiologically instable. It can result in environmental issues such as noxious odors or microbiological hazards. Wastes arising from fruit and vegetable processing industries are rich in cell wall materials. Such plant-derived wastes are generally heterogeneous as they may contain entire vegetable, leaves, stems, roots, tubers, seeds, stones, etc., which makes their upgrading rather difficult. Therefore, this chapter discusses the upgrading of plant-derived food processing by-products, mainly vegetable trimmings and residues from extraction. After an inventory of the main origins of the by-products, the upgrading of these plant wastes as a whole, of the constituting polymers, and of the monomeric components, will be addressed. The major solid waste is obtained by pressing of fruits or vegetables and solid–liquid separation. This pomace can contain pulp, peels, seeds, and stones. The further utilization of pomace depends on the fruit or vegetable type. Pomace is generally used for the extraction of valuable compounds and for the production of foodstuffs.