With the world’s population continuing to rise, the demand for sustainable and nutritious food sources is increasing. Researchers and global organisations are now exploring ways to make better use of food waste, including converting biomass that is usually discarded into useful products, The Hindu reported.
A 2024 book titled Biomass Conversion and Sustainable Biorefinery highlights recent progress in this field. The publication discusses how biomass waste generated during food processing and other activities can be reused through biorefinery approaches, helping to reduce waste and create value from by-products.
According to the World Health Organization, the growing global population makes it increasingly important to find ways to convert unused biomass into edible or useful products instead of discarding it.
Food preparation at the household and industrial level often produces large amounts of organic waste. Vegetables, eggs and meat are widely consumed, but many inedible parts are thrown away. Carrots are one such example. When used in cooking, the skin and parts such as the crown and root tip are usually removed and discarded. Even when carrots are used to prepare sweets, small portions are often left unused or treated as waste.
This issue is examined in a study by Gagan J. Kaur and co-authors titled “Assessment Carrot Rejects and Wastes for Food Product and as a Biofuel,” which appears in the same book. The study looks at how carrot waste and rejected portions can be utilised for food products as well as for biofuel production, offering a way to reduce food waste while generating additional value.
