Bioactive Components from Fruit and Vegetable By-Products: Extraction, Modification, Functional Properties and Health Benefits

Fruit and vegetable processing generates substantial quantities of peels, seeds, pomace, pulp residues, stems, leaves, and other by-products. Although these materials are frequently discarded or used as low-value feed, they contain valuable bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, essential oils, and other phytochemicals. Their recovery and conversion into functional ingredients can reduce food losses while creating new opportunities for sustainable food production. Conventional solvent extraction has increasingly been complemented by green technologies such as ultrasound-assisted, microwave-assisted, enzyme-assisted, and pressurized-liquid extraction. Chemical, enzymatic, fermentation-based, and encapsulation approaches can further modify extracted compounds and improve their stability, bio-accessibility, and technological performance. Fruit and vegetable by-product-derived ingredients have potential applications in bakery foods, beverages, snacks, meat alternatives, nutraceutical formulations, and functional foods and major bioactive components present in fruit and vegetable by-products, extraction and modification strategies, functional properties, health-related potential, and future opportunities for their sustainable utilization