Exploring Novel Nutraceuticals and Food Sources from By-products of Agricultural and Industrial Crop Processing

Malnutrition is a serious and fatal issue, and globally about 690 million people are undernourished resulting in serious developmental issues, particularly in infants and younger children. This puts a huge responsibility on the scientific community to develop novel healthy and functional foods, by utilizing the agricultural waste residues and by products from crop processing to cater to food security and malnutrition challenges. Several plant secondary metabolites and byproducts from the agricultural and industrial processing of crops (e.g. potato and wheat proteins in the industrial processing of wheat and potatoes, and forage grasses and agricultural crop leftovers) have been underutilized in terms of their nutritional value and functional ingredients. These by-products are rich in proteins, essential amino acid contents, micro-nutrients, dietary fibers, and phenolic compounds and can be very attractive candidates for nutrient-rich food applications to meet the ever-growing nutritional demands of the global population. For example antioxidant phenolic compounds have been sourced from agriculture waste and have been utilized as a food additive and in the production of nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals.

This Research Topic will explore new developments in the production of nutritionally-rich food from agricultural and crop processing side-streams to develop high-nutritional value food supplements, helping to address malnutrition in undernourished children and elderly populations. We also welcome articles exploring the potential of regional plants to provide a sustainable supply of valuable secondary metabolites to the nutraceutical industry and provision of valuable food components. Research addressing the sustainable and efficient utilization of biomass and industrial crop by-products will also be considered, with an aim to drive increases in the overall bio-economy of crops.

We welcome Original Research and Review articles within the scope of this Research Topic including, but not limited to;

• Crop residues which are substantial global reserves of fiber, energy, and plant nutrients, and can be utilized to produce a new foods and food components.
• Novel food products containing healthy nutritional compounds which are needed to meet nutritional needs and new consumption trends, such as the improvement of aging process.
• Recycling of crops and food leftovers as well as plant metabolites to food formulations as a promising solution to undernourished population.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: biomass, co products, essential nutrients, crop processing, plant metabolites, Functional food, malnutrition, sustainable food, crops, agriculture, processing

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.