Food waste, a by-product of various industrial, agricultural, household and other food sector activities, is rising continuously due to increase in such activities. Various studies have indicated that different kind of food wastes obtained from fruits, vegetables, cereal and other food processing industries can be used as potential source of bioactive compounds and nutraceuticals which has significant application in treating various ailments. Different secondary metabolites, minerals and vitamins have been extracted from food waste, using various extraction approaches. In the next few years these approaches could provide an innovative approach to increase the production of specific compounds for use as nutraceuticals or as ingredients in the design of functional foods. In this review a comprehensive study of various techniques for extraction of bioactive components citing successful research work have been discussed. Further, their efficient utilization in development of nutraceutical products, health benefits, bioprocess development and value addition of food waste resources has also been discussed.

Mushrooms are well-known functional foods due to the presence of a huge quantity of nutraceutical components. These are well recognized for their nutritional importance such as high protein, low fat, and low energy contents. These are rich in minerals such as iron, phosphorus, as well as in vitamins like riboflavin, thiamine, ergosterol, niacin, and ascorbic acid. They also contain bioactive constituents like secondary metabolites (terpenoids, acids, alkaloids, sesquiterpenes, polyphenolic compounds, lactones, sterols, nucleotide analogues, vitamins, and metal chelating agents) and polysaccharides chiefly β-glucans and glycoproteins. Due to the occurrence of biologically active substances, mushrooms can serve as hepatoprotective, immune-potentiating, anti-cancer, anti-viral, and hypocholesterolemic agents. They have great potential to prevent cardiovascular diseases due to their low fat and high fiber contents, as well as being foremost sources of natural antioxidants useful in reducing oxidative damages. However, mushrooms remained underutilized, despite their wide nutritional and bioactive potential. Novel green techniques are being explored for the extraction of bioactive components from edible mushrooms. The current review is intended to deliberate the nutraceutical potential of mushrooms, therapeutic properties, bioactive compounds, health benefits, and processing aspects of edible mushrooms for maintenance, and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

Pseudocereals have attracted the attention of nutritionists and food technologists due to their high nutritional value. In addition to their richness in nutritional and bioactive components, these are deficient in gluten and can serve as valuable food for persons suffering from gluten allergies. Processing treatments are considered an effective way to enhance the quality of food grains. Soaking and germination are traditional and most effective treatments for enhancing the nutritional and bioactive potential as well as reducing the anti-nutritional components in food grains. This study reflects the effect of soaking and germination treatments on nutritional, bioactive, and anti-nutritional characteristics of pseudocereals. There was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in nutritional and bioactive components such as crude fiber, crude protein, phenolic components, antioxidant activity, and mineral content but reduced the anti-nutrients such as tannin and phytic acid. In amaranth, there was a significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) of 7.01, 74.67, 126.62, and 87.47% in crude protein, crude fiber, phenolic content, and antioxidant activity but significant (p ≤ 0.05) reduction of 32.30% and 29.57% in tannin and phytic acid contents, respectively. Similar changes in values of crude proteins, crude fiber, phenolic content, and antioxidant activity were observed in buckwheat and quinoa. While the anti-nutritional components such as tannin and phytic acid decreased by 59.91 and 17.42%, in buckwheat and 27.08% and 47.57%, in quinoa, respectively. Therefore, soaking and germination proved to be excellent techniques to minimize the anti-nutritional component and enhance the nutritional, bioactive, and antioxidant potential of these underutilized grains.

Background: Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus species) have gained considerable attention of food technologist and nutritionist for their nutraceutical properties. Oyster mushrooms are considered as functional foods due to their richness in functional food ingredients. In recent times, consumption of these mushrooms has increased considerably due to their numerous health benefits. These are potential sources of bioactive components, which are sufficient enough for prevention and treatment of various lifestyle diseases. There are about 200 different species in the genus Pleurotus and these are commonly referred to as “oyster mushrooms”.Objective: The study aimed to grasp a collective information on nutraceutical and processing aspects of highly perishable but nutritious oyster mushroomResults: Pleurotus ostreatus is the most commonly consumed species all over the world due to its superior flavor, taste and nutraceutical properties. It acts as a source of natural antioxidants which might be beneficial for human health in preventing or reducing oxidative damage. Nutritionally, these species are rich sources of proteins, dietary fibres, β-glucan, vitamin B-complex, vitamin C and minerals. They contain higher proportions of certain amino acids such as methionine, cystine and aspartic acid than other edible mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms have been reported to possess hypocholesterolemic, anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-arthritic, anti-carcinogenic, hepatoprotective, anti-viral activities and act as natural resources of immunotherapy activities. The use of these mushrooms can overcome the deficiency of protein in the developing countries where there is unavailability or unacceptability of good quality proteins from animal sources because of religious restrictions.Conclusion: Because of the occurrence of abundant nutritional ingredients and other bioactive components in P. ostreatus, they have a great scope as a potential source for the development of functional or specialty foods for value addition of deficient foods so as to alleviate the nutritional deficiency diseases from society.