Sustainable Management of Coffee and Cocoa Agro-Waste

Agricultural waste is not only a sustainability problem related to food security but also an economic problem since it has a direct impact on the profitability of entire food supply chain. Sustainable management of agricultural waste is a systematic approach towards reducing waste and its allied impacts over the entire life cycle, starting with the use of natural resources, production, sales, and consumption, and ending either with final disposal or recovery. Management of agro-waste focuses on three main aspects (i.e., recycle, reuse, and reduce [R3]). Building on this familiar concept of “R3” will impact environmental protection and more fully recognize the impacts of the food and agriculture wasted. Thus, in the chapter, the authors highlight the sustainable utilization of waste generated from coffee and cocoa processing for the development of value-added products.

Fermented Foods and Their Production

Fermented foods have been produced throughout recorded history. Recently, fermented foods have experienced renewed interest stemming from concerns with nutrition and the increase in vegetarian and natural foods diets. This chapter explores fermented foods and their production.

Industrially Important Enzymes Production From Food Waste

To link food demand and reduction in food waste, proactive approaches should be taken. Perishable food is mainly fruits and vegetables, waste from different processing industries like pulses, meat products, oil products, dairy products, and fishery byproducts. Conventional food waste management solution is land filling which is not sustainable as it generates global warming gases like methane and carbon dioxide. To reduce food waste, the process known as “food valorization” has become another solution to landfilling, the concept which is given by European Commission in 2012, meaning food processing waste conversion to value-added products. In this chapter the study focuses on production of industrially important enzymes from food waste which could be one of the reactive solutions. Different enzymes like pectinase, peroxidase, lipase, glucoamylase, and protease can be produced from food waste.

Recent Insight Into Fermented Foods and Production

The fermented beverages and foods either of plant or animal source play a vital role in the food of society in several parts of the world. The fermented of foods not only afford vital sources of nutrients but also have abundant potential in maintaining health and also preventing various diseases. The bacteria and yeasts are the major groups of microorganisms related to traditional fermented of the foods. Numerous diverse types of traditional fermented beverages and foods are formed at domestic level in the various countries. The advancement of fermentation technology provides value addition to waste food by their complete conversion into the different value-added products. The recent research suggests that the biological functions of fermented foods affect the health due to functional microbes involved during fermentation which provides several health-promoting benefits to the consumers. The emphasis of this chapter is to describe the fermentation technology and their potential to minimize the wastage of foods by conversion of value-added products and their benefits.

Together We Will Reduce the Food Loss

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include Target 12.3's call for halving food waste and reducing food losses worldwide by 2030. One-third of all food produced each year in the world is never eaten, while at the same time nearly 800 million people go hungry. This situation urges us to take immediate resolutions and steps towards reduction of food waste and food loss. This cannot be done by one person or overnight. This requires systematic analysis in various layers and collective and appropriate effort. This target can be achieved altogether by various sectors including government organizations; non-government organizations; and private companies in collaboration with schools; colleges; universities; research institutes; religion-based organizations such as temples, churches, etc.; and charity-based organizations. This book chapter will discuss the various steps that can possibly be adopted and implemented to address the serious issue of reduction of food waste and food loss.

Utilization and Management of Food Waste

The food industry generates a huge amount of waste annually around the globe from a variety of sources. Approximately one third of all food produced today goes to landfill as waste. The food waste is not only a humanitarian problem, but also a serious economic and environmental pollution problem. The global volume of food wastage has been reported to around 1.3bn tones worth to about $165 bn. In India, about 40% of the food produced is wasted, which is estimated to about Rs. 50,000 crores worth every year. The important types of food wastes generated are agricultural residue, processed food, fruit and vegetable processing, marine food, dairy processing, meat and poultry, hotel and restaurant, etc. The food industrial waste can be converted into byproducts mainly based on the processing of fruits and vegetables and allied food manufacturing, supply and distribution, livestock feed, using it as source of bioactive compounds, useful bioenergy production, artificial fertilizer and decomposed manure, a variety of chemicals, antioxidant, nutraceuticals, etc.

Microbiological Monitoring in the Biodegradation of Food Waste

Food wastage and its exponential growth emerged as a global environmental issue, and its improper disposal has become a threat to human health and environment. Deterioration of food wastes releases various greenhouse gases that increases global warming and produces large amounts of toxins and foul odors, such as NH3 and H2S. To reduce this burden there is an urgent need to take appropriate measures by adopting standard management strategies. Microorganisms play an important role in food waste recycling, which appears to be cost-effective and causes less harm to the environment. One such process is anaerobic digestion, which has appeared as one of the most promising and eco-friendly approaches for management that converts organic waste into various useful products. Another sustainable approach is composting. Compost generated by food waste improves soil health and regenerates healthier environment. Thus, through the use of microorganisms, the study paves the way for effective management of food waste in order to minimize potential human and environmental risks.

The Pursuit of Zero Food Waste

Games are ordered activities, generally undertaken for recreation. The design elements of these games are being used by people all around the planet to make this world a better place. The opportunities for gamification are being discussed in this chapter along with the use of a decision-making method as both have been applied to the study using a local running mobile application as platform for encouraging students enrolled in various educational institutions to promote avoidance of mess food wastage and in gaining confidence to integrate to use this approach to fight the cause of this global malady in their everyday life. The overarching issue of student mentality about food wastage is being discussed along with how to merge gamification with digital technology in this aspect and its participatory design. This provides the background for addressing points of using a gameful system to foster empowerment and connection among the students of NIT Jalandhar where this case was studied and the proposed approach was implemented.

Understanding the Composition of Food Waste

Due to existing application gap, the diverse microorganisms and their processes in food waste have not been maximally explored or harnessed. This chapter addresses the possible application of “-omics” technologies to understand food waste microbial composition and metabolic processes, to stimulate future research in mining food waste for important microorganisms and bioactive compounds. The chapter highlights potential “-omics” procedures for food waste assessments. These innovative, culture-independent, high-throughput technologies have already revolutionized diverse fields of research and human endeavors. This chapter also introduces the concept of food wastomics to detect, identify, and measure the different molecules and microorganisms that are present and expressed in food waste such as DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, and metabolites. This knowledge will create a greater understanding of how discarded food is degraded and what useful products or organisms may be harvested from it. Finally, the chapter recommends the integration of food wastomics into foodomics.

Recent Molecular Approaches for Development of Value-Added Products From Lignocellulosic Food Waste

The escalating global population has led to an ever-increasing demand for food processing industries, and as a result, the generation of huge amounts of food waste. The severity of this problem is augmented due to dawdling development of effective waste treatment and disposal strategies. In a quest of potential alternative bioenergy resources, lignocellulose is proven to be a good, abundantly available raw material on the land as a leftover of agricultural and industrial byproduct made up cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. It is mostly utilized for biofuels, bio-ethanol production, and other value-added products. The development of the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fine chemicals still remains a big challenge. The deciphering molecular mechanism and effective cellulase and hemicellulases producing microorganisms might successfully be accomplished with transcriptome, proteome, and recombinant DNA technology; these are discussed in this chapter.