Fruit and vegetable peels are often regarded as waste, leading to their disposal in landfills. As a result, methane gas emissions during the decomposition of waste lead to the loss of potentially valuable resources. Nonetheless, these peels are an abundant source of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins such as dietary fiber, anthocyanins, ascorbic acid, and phenolic compounds, which can enhance animal health and productivity and, as a result, increase the milk and meat production of livestock as well as the drawing power of draught animals. From an environmental perspective, the utilization of peels for animal feed can significantly reduce organic waste accumulation, decrease greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste decomposition, and lower the dependency on conventional feed ingredients such as grains, which are often produced through resource‐intensive agricultural practices. To date, no comprehensive review has been found on the nutritional and environmental impact of fruit and vegetable peels as animal feed. This paper aims to explore the nutritional and environmental impact of various kinds of fruit and vegetable peels.
5 July 2023 in International Journal of Food Properties
The impact of different drying techniques on the properties of yellow cassava flour and its food application was investigated in this study. Flour was made from three cultivars of yellow cassava by solar-, hot air oven-, or drum- drying. Their functionality was determined by standard methods, and their digestibility was evaluated in vitro. The flours were used in the preparation of fufu, which was evaluated by sensorial and instrumental methods. The digestibility of drum-dried flours was higher (69.4–79.7%) than solar- (60.4–70.7%) or air oven-dried flours (60.3–70.4%), whereas β-carotene concentration was higher in air oven-dried samples compared to the others. Significant differences ( ) due to cultivar and/or drying technique were observed in the hydration and pasting properties of the flours. Instrumental texture analysis of fufu made from yellow cassava flours showed both drying technique and cultivar to affect the hardness, adhesiveness, and cohesiveness of the product. Acceptability scores for the fufu ranged from 4 to 6, with a decisive preference for samples produced from drum-dried flours. The study has shown the successful utilization of different drying techniques in the production of flour from yellow cassava variants for the preparation of fufu.