Waste gets functional

The Grub's Up project will explore ways of extracting phytochemicals, nutrients and micronutrients from fruit and veg peelings, brewers' spent grain, olive pulp and grape seeds.

It is estimated that Europe's fruit and vegetable industries generate about 30Mt of waste a year, said project partner Igor Kobek at Bremerhaven Technology Transfer Centre.

"Although full of valuable nutrients and biomass, the waste is, for the most part, sent to landfills or used as a low quality compost or animal feed without treatment," he added. But carrot pomace, citrus, and potato peel could be processed into dietary fibre to add nutritional value in the form of vitamins and anti-oxidants, while olive pulp and spent malt could produce pectin, which is widely used as a gelling agent in food.

"We are assessing eight technologies, weighing up the impact that they may have on the environment and food quality, and whether they can really serve industry's needs and are economically viable."

Project members were also analysing the results of a recent survey of 1,000 companies in the fruit and vegetable sector, he said.

The next step was organising technology transfer workshops to bring together academics and food manufacturers.

Ultimately, the project would produce a guide for manufacturers that detailed the best technologies and their industrial applications, he added.

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