Development of cosmeceutical functional ingredients from fresh produce waste

在加拿大，近一半的食物供应被浪费了，新鲜农产品垃圾的升级回收利用潜力尚未开发，可以创造新的经济机会。全球化妆品产业的价值约为3800亿美元，并以4.5%的年增长率增长。新斯科舍省的Outcast食品公司对零售、农民和农业食品企业的新鲜农产品废物和剩余进行升级回收，并将其转化为全植物粉末和脱水产品。我们计划与Outcast Foods合作，从新鲜农产品废料中开发新的药妆功能性成分，面向加拿大和全球市场。主要的挑战是开发对消费者和环境友好的工艺，从新鲜农产品废物中提取高价值的生物活性物质，同时避免潜在的霉菌毒素污染物。拟议研究的具体目标是：(i)制定预处理工艺，以减少潜在霉菌毒素污染物的风险；（ii）优化绿色提取工艺，生产富含类黄酮和类胡萝卜素的产品；（iii）开发一种新的提取物包封工艺，并表征由此产生的新成分的理化性质；以及（iv）评估用于药妆品的新成分的生物学特性。提出的实验方法包括开发经济和可持续的霉菌毒素净化过程，有毒无溶剂生物活性提取和增强生物功效的包封。预期的结果将是建立先进和可扩展的新型药妆功能成分制造工艺。预计该项目将通过创造新的农业食品增值产品，为加拿大农业食品工业的可持续性做出贡献，有助于减少粮食浪费和保护环境。

In Canada, nearly half of the food supply is wasted, and an untapped potential exists for upcycling fresh produce waste to generate new economic opportunities. The global cosmetic industry is valued at about $380 billion and is growing by an annual growth rate of 4.5%. Outcast Foods Inc of Nova Scotia upcycle fresh produce waste and surplus from retail, farmers, and agri-food business and convert them into whole plant powders and dehydrated products. Partnering with Outcast Foods, we propose to develop new cosmeceutical functional ingredients from fresh produce waste for the Canadian and global markets. The major challenges are to develop consumer- and environment-friendly processes to extract high-value bioactives from fresh produce waste while avoiding potential mycotoxin contaminants. The specific objectives of the proposed research are to: (i.) develop pre-treatment processes to reduce the risk of potential mycotoxin contaminants; (ii.) optimize a green extraction process to produce flavonoid- and carotenoid-rich products; (iii.) develop a novel encapsulation process for the extracts and characterize physio-chemical properties of resultant novel ingredients; and (iv.) assess the novel ingredients for biological properties desirable to use in cosmeceuticals. The proposed experimental approaches include the development of economic and sustainable processes for mycotoxin decontamination, toxic solvent-free bioactive extractions, and bioefficacy-enhancing encapsulation. The expected outcome will be the establishment of advanced and scalable manufacturing processes for novel cosmeceutical functional ingredients. It is anticipated that the project would contribute to the sustainability of the Canadian agri-food industry through the creation of new agri-food value-added products, contributing to food waste reduction and environmental protection.