Plant Food By-Products: Industrial Relevance for Food Additives and Nutraceuticals

This new volume, Plant Food By-Products: Industrial Relevance for Food Additives and Nutraceuticals, takes an eco-friendly approach to examining the advantages of using plant food by-products as food additives and nutraceuticals, turning solid wastes into value-added items. The chapters, written by researchers and professionals working in the plant food industry, look at ways to make effective use of plant by-products by harnessing the power of the antimicrobial and nutraceutical power of plant and herb extracts. The measures and techniques discussed here will also help to improve the economics of processing crops. In addition, food processing industries generate a large amount of by-products and wastes, and the use plant food by-products can help mitigate growing environmental problems.

The antimicrobial power of plant and herb extracts has been recognized for centuries in natural medicine, and research proves the use of crops as a source of nutraceutical compounds. The by-products of plant food also contain high levels of various health-enhancing substances. This volume examines the potential uses of plant by-products as food additives (such as antioxidants, antimicrobials, colorants, flavorings, and thickener agents) and as nutraceuticals (antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antiinflamatory, prebiotics, antiobesogenic, inmunomodulators, among others).

The chapter authors cover a range of issues, including the economic and environmental benefits of utilizing plant food by-products, extraction technologies, plant tissues as a source of nutraceutical compounds, and more.

The information provided in this volume will be valuable for researchers, scientists, and professionals working in the plant food industry.