Biorefinery for the recovery of by-products from passion fruit processing through high pressure technologies

Abstract

The Laboratory of High Pressure in Food Engineering (LAPEA) has focused its research activities on high pressure processes to obtain added value products from natural sources. Recent results have shown that food industry by-products are important sources of bioactive compounds, and high pressure technologies are feasible alternatives for the recovery and purification of such components through clean method with no aggression to the environment or products. Nevertheless, the technical and economic viability of these processes depends on their intensification and integration between them and to other unit operations in an industrial processing line. Given this background, the concept of biorefinery will be applied to the entire recovery of by-products from passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) processing (bagasse and peel), which have proven potential as sources of oil, phenolics, pectin and other compounds of industrial interest. The proposed biorefinery includes the recovery of such compounds by means of high pressure extractions, fractioning and concentration of the target compounds through pressure reduction, adsorption or nanofiltration, formulation of particles and aerogels for the incorporation and delivery of bioactive compounds, recovery of the lignocellulosic residue for the extraction of pectin and starch hydrolysis, generating fermentable sugars. Methods for process intensification, like ultrasound and alternatives solvents such as vegetable oils and expanded liquids will be tested in the extraction processes, which will be also phenomenologically evaluated by mathematical modeling. The raw materials (passion fruit processing residues), intermediary and final products will be analyzed in terms of chemical composition, focusing on the target components in each product, physical properties and biological activities, envisaging their possible commercial applications. Finally, the individual processes and the complete biorefinery will have their economic viability evaluated through the estimation of manufacturing costs. (AU)