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DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1321258
Development and application of a methodology for the recovery of high added value products from peach industry waste
Every year, in Greece, more than 300.000 tones of peach fruit (Prunus persica), are used to produce juices and canned products. Consequently, thousands tones of fruit waste are discarded, aggravating annually the environment by a total of 3 million m3 of liquid and 23.000 tones of solid waste. Peach solid and liquid wastes are rich in phytochemicals like phenolics and carotenoids that have high economic added value, due to their remarkable biological activities that find many applications in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Within this project we have developed and apply a method for the recovery of polyphenols with an eco friendly approach using mainly the Adsorption Resin Technology. The methodology has been applied in lab and in pilot scale. In pilot scale 200kg peach pulp were treated with 25kg resin XAD4 type in order to recover polyphenolic compounds. Using a few simple steps of separations we have isolated and identified several phenolic compounds that belong to flavonoids (e.g.luteolin, prunin), phenolic acids (e.g. cafeic acid), lactones (e.g. D-decalactone) and triterpens (e.g.3-epi maslinic acid). In addition, the peach kernel that is another by-product of the industry has been submitted successfully to Super Critical Fluid extraction and we have obtained, in good yields, the kernel oil that is also known as “persic oil” and has commercially high added value in cosmetic industry.