Agro-food wastes: new sources of antioxidants

Sustainable utilization of agro-food wastes for producing alternative sources of antioxidants with added value for cosmetic, pharmaceutical, or food industrial applications provides an opportunity for earning additional income for the provider industrial sector. Furthermore, the increased awareness of consumers regarding the products they purchase and consume and their health has led to an increased demand for new products containing biologically active compounds, namely antioxidants. Therefore finding new or nonconventional sources of antioxidants is a priority for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Besides, effective valorization of agro-food waste can efficiently help in reducing environmental problems by decreasing unwarranted pollution. Moreover, the recovered antioxidants could be introduced again in the supply chain achieving an approach of circular economy. The major focus of this chapter is underlying the great potential of main agro-food waste produced to be exploited as sources of antioxidants based on the scientific evidence.