article · Foods
This research evaluates wet fractionation methods to recover valuable nutritional products from broccoli agricultural waste within a green biorefinery framework. Broccoli residues were processed directly using a mechanical press, and the resulting green juice was subsequently treated via microwave coagulation or lactic acid fermentation. Both secondary treatments produced leaf protein concentrates with higher dry matter and crude protein contents, averaging 34 to 39 percent, compared to the green juice at 27.4 percent, while maintaining stable amino acid ratios. Analysis revealed that the recovery of specific bioactive phytochemicals depends heavily on the chosen processing method. Lactic acid fermentation markedly increased aglycon forms of the flavonols quercetin and kaempferol, but resulted in the loss of sulforaphane and chlorogenic acid isomers. In contrast, microwave processing preserved these compounds, demonstrating that downstream processing routes must be chosen according to the targeted end products.
Agricultural waste from broccoli harvesting represents an underutilised resource. Transforming this green waste into protein concentrates rich in beneficial phytochemicals supports circular economy principles. Demonstrating how distinct processing techniques alter protein yields and preserve specific health-promoting compounds allows producers to tailor extraction methods for targeted nutritional or functional ingredients.
This work informs food and feed processors seeking to valorise agricultural side streams into functional protein concentrates and antioxidant ingredients. Because the findings derive from laboratory fractionation and chemical profiling, the technology represents early-stage development. Further scale-up, yield optimisation, and formulation testing are needed before these fractionation pathways can be deployed in commercial biorefineries.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The main objective of this study was to increase the economic value of broccoli green agro-waste using three wet fractionation methods in the shadow of green biorefinery and the circular economy. Product candidates were obtained directly by using a mechanical press, and indirectly by using microwave coagulation or via lactic acid fermentation of green juice. The leaf protein concentrates (LPC) fractions displayed significantly higher dry matter content and crude protein content (34-39 m/m% on average) than the green juice fraction (27.4 m/m% on average), without considerable changes in the amino acids composition ratio. UHPLC-ESI-ORBITRAP-MS/MS analysis showed that kaemferol and quercetin are the most abundant flavonols, forming complexes with glycosides and hydroxycinnamic acids in green juice. Lacto-ermentation induced a considerable increase in the quantity of quercetin (48.75 μg·g<sup>-1</sup> dry weight) and kaempferol aglycons (895.26 μg·g<sup>-1</sup> dry weight) of LPC. In contrast, chlorogenic acid isomers and sulforaphane disappeared from LPC after lactic acid fermentation, while microwave treatment did not cause significant differences. These results confirm that both microwave treatment and lacto-fermentation coagulate and concentrate most of the soluble proteins. Also, these two processes affect the amount of valuable phytochemicals differently, so it should be considered when setting the goals.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/foods11162418
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
