Valorization of by-products from Prunus genus fruit processing: Opportunities and applications

The industrialization of the agricultural sector has increased the chemical burden on natural ecosystems. Pesticides are agrochemicals used in agricultural lands, public health programs, and urban green areas in order to protect plants and humans from various diseases. However, due to their known ability to cause a large number of negative health and environmental effects, their side effects can be an important environmental health risk factor. The urgent need for a more sustainable and ecological approach has produced many innovative ideas, among them agriculture reforms and food production implementing sustainable practice evolving to food sovereignty. It is more obvious than ever that the society needs the implementation of a new agricultural concept regarding food production, which is safer for man and the environment, and to this end, steps such as the declaration of Nyéléni have been taken.

This review presents innovative extraction techniques and their role in promoting sustainable ingredients for the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. This review presents innovative extraction techniques and their role in promoting sustainable ingredients for the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. These techniques (such as microwave, ultrasound, pulse electric field, instant controlled pressure drop, sub- and super-critical fluid processing, extrusion, mechanochemistry, high pressure, and ohmic, UV and IR heating) use or produce less solvent, energy, and hazards. This review will provide the necessary theoretical background and some details about green extraction techniques, their mechanisms, some applications, and environmental impacts. We will pay special attention to the strategies and present them as success stories for research and education and at the industrial scale.