Page 26 - Food&Drink Business magazine June 2022

FOOD WASTE
The high value of waste
Waste transformation is not a new concept but it is time to reframe how we see it. Food scientist Dr Anneline Padayachee explains why.
LEFT: Apple peels could help treat obesity.
Although we think of what we eat as food as opposed to
as a source of nutrients, that is exactly what food
is, a collection of different nutrients and
bioactive components in edible form.
Consider the dietary fibre in fruits and vegetables, which is composed of cellulose, pectins,
hemi-cellulose, and lignin, the
percentages of each varying between
produce.
Because citrus and apples peels have high pectin
content, reprocessing them, both by-products from juicing, provides pectin for other uses.
As our understanding of food components and bodily functions increases, more novel commercial opportunities with applications beyond just the food industry that improve health while simultaneously decreasing food waste are becoming available.
Currently, there are at least 24 patents pending for using food by-product extracts in health foods, cosmetics, functional ingredients, food packaging, and medical uses.
The research sector has a long-standing interest in this arena, identifying nutritive or functional components in foods and by-products.
Chemically derived lipase- inhibiting medication is used to treat complex obesity by decreasing fat absorption in the small intestine.
However, pectin extracted from apple juice pomace has been found to also inhibit lipase activity in the pancreas.
Banana peel transformation is another example of resource optimisation for use as a functional ingredient in high value applications. Banana peels are an exceptional source of dietary fibre, but are also a potent source of polyphenol compounds shown to have antimicrobial, antibiotic and
HUMANS have been transforming food waste into different products for thousands of years. The process is as old as the household compost bin; simplistic and requiring little thought or technology.
We turn foods we cannot, or do not, want to eat into something with a better purpose (i.e. compost) than binning it as no-value rubbish.
It is a similar story for the food industry. For example, the rendering of raw animal fat into a shelf-stable product used to create everyday essentials including soap and candles, lard and tallow is one of the oldest industries dating back
to 6000BC with the Ancient Mesopotamians.
In fact, given the diversity of
the food supply and the need to effectively treat waste by- products, over the centuries the render sector has grown to encapsulate all forms of waste treatment and upcycling.
35%
OF A BANANA IS THE SKIN, WITH POTENT ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTIBIOTIC AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES.
Peter Milzewski, president of the Australian Rendering Association, says, “This critical industry generates more than
$50 billion in revenue each year for the Australian economy.”
The National Food Waste Strategy identifies ingredients reprocessing for the cosmetic, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and industries as a viable strategy to decrease food waste.
This mirrors the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) position that resource optimisation as a method of waste reduction will contribute greatly to society.
TIME FOR A RETHINK
Given our greater understanding of food components and the need for a more sustainable food supply, it may be pertinent to rethink food waste as a source of high value components instead.
26 | Food&Drink business | June 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au