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.
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