This review examines three Andean pseudocereals: quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), kañiwa ( Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen), and kiwicha ( Amaranthus caudatus L.). The focus is on the changes achieved through germination, enhanced by the use of emerging technologies applied as a pre-treatment. These grains are characterized by high-quality proteins with a complete essential amino acid profile, significant dietary fiber content, and diverse bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic properties. This review covers conventional germination methods and parameters and explores emerging non-thermal technologies used as a pre-germination step. Although substantial research has investigated these technologies in quinoa, studies on kañiwa and kiwicha remain limited. Current evidence indicates that technologies such as ultrasound, high hydrostatic pressure, cold plasma, and magnetic fields can optimize enzymatic activity, reduce antinutrient content, and promote the synthesis of functional compounds. Gluten-free baked products made from germinated flour demonstrate improvements in rheological, textural, and sensory properties. However, challenges persist in defining industrial-scale parameters and addressing the high manufacturing costs of gluten-free products. A bibliometric analysis shows an increasing global interest in gluten-free products, creating commercial opportunities for these Andean pseudocereals. Kañiwa is identified as particularly promising due to its climatic resilience and nutritional value. The conclusion emphasizes the need for further research to optimize processing protocols and validate scaling approaches, thereby enhancing the contribution of pseudocereals to global food security and sustainable development.

En Perú, la anemia afecta a un 32% de los niños, sin distinción de nivel socioeconómico, debido a una dieta deficiente. Según la Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud Familiar 2022, la tasa de anemia en niños de 6 a 36 meses aumentó del 38,8% al 42,4% respecto al año anterior. En zonas urbanas, el porcentaje creció del 35,3% al 39%, mientras que en áreas rurales se elevó del 48,7% al 51,5%. A nivel nacional, Cusco y Puno registran tasas superiores al 50%. Por otra parte, se destaca el potencial de aprovechar subproductos de la industria de beneficio animal, especialmente bovino, para crear ingredientes con alto valor añadido. Estos subproductos poseen propiedades nutricionales adecuadas para combatir la anemia y representan un beneficio ambiental al reducir efluentes y emisiones contaminantes. En el Instituto de Educación Superior Tecnológico Público ISTP Los Morocuchos Fe y Alegría 60 de Ayacucho, Perú, se llevó a cabo un estudio centrado en desarrollar un producto dirigido a adolescentes en edad escolar en forma de gomitas, utilizando extractos de zanahoria, remolacha y espinaca y fortificadas con harina de sangre bovina, agradables sensorialmente. La investigación evaluó la proporción de harina de sangre bovina y extracto de hortalizas mediante un diseño experimental al azar. Las pruebas sensoriales concluyeron que las gomitas fortificadas con remolacha fueron las más aceptadas.

Coffee production and consumption generate heterogeneous biomass and effluent streams, including pulp, husk, mucilage, parchment, silverskin, spent coffee grounds (SCGs), and processing wastewater. However, the literature on their valorization remains fragmented by feedstock and application, with limited integration of safety, regulatory, and scalability considerations. This structured narrative review synthesizes recent evidence on the composition, stabilization, fractionation, and cascade biorefinery valorization of the principal coffee by-products. Current evidence most strongly supports cascade schemes in which lipids and bioactive compounds are recovered before carbohydrate- and lignin-rich fractions are directed to material, biochemical, anaerobic, or thermochemical conversion. However, while this sequence is technically feasible for SCGs, its applicability to other by-products requires further validation. Composition, moisture, stability, and contamination risks vary substantially among coffee by-products, and many reported applications remain at laboratory scale. Food uses additionally require control of caffeine, mycotoxins, process contaminants, and sensory acceptability. Cross-study comparisons are constrained by inconsistent feedstock descriptions and operating conditions, and three main limitations constrain industrial implementation: inconsistent feedstock characterization, safety concerns for food applications that remain insufficiently addressed, and scarce pilot-scale demonstrations and techno-economic assessments. Future research should prioritize by-product-specific cascade designs, standardized mass and energy balances, and safety validation. Overall, coffee by-products can function as valuable secondary resources, but their sustainable utilization requires feedstock-specific strategies rather than universal sequences.

Cocoa processing generates large amounts of agro-industrial by-products, mainly cocoa bean shells (CBS), cocoa pod husks (CPH), and cocoa mucilage, which remain underutilized despite their nutritional and bioactive potential. This narrative review critically analyzes the composition of cocoa by-products and emerging technologies for bioactive compound recovery. Results show that CBS and CPH are rich sources of dietary fiber (13.8–65.6%), phenolic compounds (up to 100 mg GAE/g), and methylxanthines (theobromine up to 11.6 mg/g in CBS). Emerging extraction technologies, ultrasound-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pulsed electric fields, and cold atmospheric plasma, improve extraction yield (20–150%), reduce processing time (from hours to minutes), and decrease solvent consumption compared to conventional methods. Regarding food applications, moderate CBS inclusion levels (10–20% in cookies, 2–8% in bread, 0.75–1.0% in sausages) improve dietary fiber and antioxidant capacity without compromising sensory acceptability, whereas higher levels (>20–30%) increase hardness, bitterness, and astringency. It is concluded that cocoa by-products are promising resources for sustainable functional food ingredients. However, industrial implementation remains limited by raw material variability, lack of standardized extraction protocols, sensory constraints, and insufficient biological validation of recovered compounds. Future research should focus on standardizing extraction protocols, validating bioaccessibility and bioactivity through in vivo studies, optimizing food formulations for sensory balance, assessing contaminants (heavy metals, mycotoxins), and evaluating techno-economic feasibility and life-cycle sustainability at industrial scale.

Iron deficiency anemia in children remains a public health problem of concern, especially in rural areas of Peru. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bromatological, and microbiological composition and efficacy of gummies fortified with carrot extract (M1), beet extract (M2), and bovine blood meal. A sample of 20 school-age children from the district of Los Morochucos was divided into two groups, one for M1 and the other for M2. Both gummy formulations showed acceptable levels of moisture, potassium, iron, and nitrogen, low levels of copper, arsenic, and lead, and microbiological parameters indicated that the gummies were safe for human consumption. In terms of efficiency, M2 was better, increasing hemoglobin levels from 12.12 to 12.63 g/dL, which is attributed to the synergy that develops between iron and beet compounds that promote its absorption. In contrast, gummies fortified with carrot extract showed no significant changes, which could be associated with low compliance in accompanying gummy consumption with a citrus drink, which in turn influenced the bioavailability of iron. The results show that it is possible to include gummies fortified with vegetable extracts and bovine blood meal as part of the diet of school-age children who are vulnerable to anemia.