Sustainable Methods for Extracting Antioxidants From Vegetable and Fruit Waste (VFW)

Vegetable and fruit waste (VFW) is generated in large quantities worldwide and contains valuable antioxidants such as phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, and vitamins. Efficient and environmental friendly extraction of these molecules is of great importance for applications in food, medicine, and cosmetics. It involves various sustainable methods for the isolation of antioxidants from VFW, including pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), green solvent extraction (GSE), deep eutectic solvents (DESs/NADES), and ionic liquids (ILs). Among these, UAE and MAE were found to be highly efficient in extraction with less energy consumption, whereas DESs/NADES yielded eco-friendly procedures with high selectivity. Despite such advancements, challenges such as high costs, scale barriers, and industrial feasibility still exist. Overall, green extraction techniques are promising for valorizing VFW antioxidants and facilitating circular economic practices. Future studies should focus on developing improved green extraction techniques, increasing cost savings, and exploring prospects at the industrial level to promote the sustainable utilization of VFW.