Reference only

Vegetable cultivation generates huge amounts of solid and liquid wastes during production, packaging, processing and final consumption. Usually, these wastes contain high amounts of water and organic matter such as proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Many phenolic compounds and carotenoids can be extracted from different vegetables and their waste, as it is stable during processing and consumption and maintain their activity in the body. Vegetable losses from the farm to the consumer are above 40% and increasing. This includes vegetables which are not harvested due to improper maturity, do not satisfy strict quality specifications by the supermarkets, and rejected crops or parts or fibre/pomace after extracting juice by processing industries. This waste represents a major cost to vegetable growers. The aim is searching for innovative techniques and markets, which can prospectively utilize vegetable waste, minimize qualitative and quantitative losses and reduce environmental pollution.

Text in English