Food waste: Trends Food Science and Technology

[Guest guest]

Plant by-products as

functional ingredients

Epidemiological studies have pointed

out that the consumption of fruits

and vegetables imparts considerable

health bene .ts and helps reduce the

risk of heart disease and certain types

of cancer.Fibre,carotenoids,poly-

phenolics,tocopherols,vitamin C

and other components of plants con-

fer these health bene .ts.During the

processing of fruits,for example to

produce juice and nectars,and vege-

tables,for example to produce pre-

pared potato products,there is an

abundance of waste material.On

page xx,A.Schieber and colleagues

review the literature that examines

the use of by-produces of plant food

processing as potential sources of

natural additives and functional food

ingredients.This is particularly valid

for phenolic compounds,which in

contrast to most carotenoids and

vitamins,are not chemically synthe-

sized,and need to be extracted from

plant material.The paper examines

the by-products of many fruits and

vegetables and gives information

about the types of compounds they

contain,for example grape pomace

contains both .bre and highly bene-

..cial polyphenols,this has led to the

concept of an antioxidant dietary

..bre.Citrus fruit,tropical fruits,

tomatoes,olives and potatoes are just

some of the many crops that are

considered in this extensive review.

Alan Pater, Ph.D.; Faculty of Medicine; Memorial University of Newfoundland;

St. 's, NF A1B 3V6 Canada; Tel. No.: (709) 777-6488; Fax No.: (709)

777-7010; email: apater@...