Bioactive Compound Extraction from Fruit and Agricultural By-Products
Summary
Fruit processing and agricultural industries generate vast quantities of residues such as peels, seeds, pomace and stalks that are rich in bioactive molecules. These include phenolic acids, flavonoids, carotenoids, dietary fibres and other antioxidant constituents whose recovery contributes to both human health and sustainable resource management. Conventional solid–liquid extraction with organic solvents remains widespread, but recent years have seen a shift towards green methodologies. Ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction accelerate mass transfer, while supercritical fluid extraction and pressurised liquid extraction enable solvent reduction and enhanced selectivity. Emerging solvent systems—deep eutectic solvents and ionic liquids—offer tunable polarity and biodegradability. Enzyme-assisted extraction can liberate bound phenolics by degrading cell walls. Process parameters such as solvent type, temperature, time and solid-to-solvent ratio are carefully optimised to maximise yield and bioactivity. Following extraction, purification may involve adsorption, membrane filtration or chromatographic separation to concentrate target compounds. Integration of these methods within a circular bioeconomy framework supports waste valorisation, producing ingredients for functional foods, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and active packaging. Despite promising laboratory-scale results, challenges remain in scaling, standardising quality and ensuring regulatory compliance. Advances in kinetics modelling and process intensification continue to refine extraction efficiency, driving the global implementation of sustainable biorefineries that transform agricultural by-products into high-value bioactives.
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Bioactive Compound Extraction from Fruit and Agricultural By-Products publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in bioactive compound extraction from fruit and agricultural by-products across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Bioactive compound: A non-nutrient molecule in foods that exerts a biological effect.
Solid–liquid extraction: Separation of soluble components by contact of solid matrix with solvent.
Supercritical fluid extraction: Use of fluids above critical temperature and pressure to dissolve target analytes.
Deep eutectic solvent: Mixture of hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors forming a low-melting, tunable solvent.
LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS: Liquid chromatography with electrospray ionisation and quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry for compound identification.
HPLC-PDA: High-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection for quantification of molecules.
References
- Valorization of agro-industrial biowaste to biomaterials: An innovative circular bioeconomy approach. CIRCULAR ECONOMY (2023).
- Phenolic Compounds in the Potato and Its Byproducts: An Overview. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2016).
- Screening and Characterization of Phenolic Compounds from Australian Grown Bananas and Their Antioxidant Capacity. Antioxidants (2021).
- Utilization of potato peel as eco‐friendly products: A review. Food Science & Nutrition (2018).
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