Abstract

Biotechnological Approaches for the Value Addition of Food Industry By-products

Parmjit S Panesar, Professor & Head, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology

Food processing industry is one of the thriving industries in terms of production, consumption and growth prospects and is also regarded as sunrise industry. With the increase in the population, there has been an increasing demand for the food processing industries and simultaneous generation of the quantities of biodegradable residues/byproducts, which pose serious environmental concern. These wastes are generated throughout the food cycle, from production, processing to consumption. The waste generation not only affects the environment, but also the economy as additional costs is required for their management. Although these wastes vary in composition and concentration, but these are rich sources of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and dumping of these residues can result in a considerable loss of potential food and energy source. Thus, there is a growing need for food processing industries to properly recycle and utilize these byproducts. Moreover, stringent environmental legislations have considerably added to the development of sustainable waste management techniques throughout the World. With the advancement in the field of biotechnology, different biotechnological processes are being used for the utilization of different food industry residues for the production of different value added products. In the past decade, efforts are being carried out both at industrial level and researchers at the academic level to develop environmental friendly and cost effective technologies. Significant reduction of pollution loads with concomitant production of useful bio-products such as lactic acid, ethanol, citric acid, enzymes and single cell proteins have been achieved. Novel products such as exopolysaccharides, biofuels, glycerol, biopigments and biosurfactants have also been generated through different biotechnological techniques. So, biotechnological processes, especially the microbial fermentation, can contribute significantly to the waste utilization, which will not only help in the preparation of value added products but also help in reduction of pollution load.