Applied Sciences

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is devoted to new processes for the valorization of agri-food waste in the frame of circular economy. Indeed, agriculture and food production generate significant amounts of waste, including crop residues, food processing by-products, and expired or unsold food. Rather than letting these materials go to waste, there is a growing interest in finding ways to repurpose them for various innovative applications, such as (but not limited to) biodegradable packaging, biocomposites, textile production, nutraceuticals, animal feed, and sustainable products for agriculture. Future research should address the gap between residues and functional products, exploring the effectiveness of emerging technologies. These innovations enable farmers to optimize resource utilization, reduce waste, and improve crop yields. Environmental sustainability in agriculture is also highlighted, with a focus on technological solutions to minimize soil degradation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.

In this Special Issue, we invite submissions exploring cutting-edge research and recent advances in the fields of sustainable processes for waste biomass valorization. Overall, this Special Issue advocates for harnessing the power of technological innovations to enhance resource efficiency and environmental sustainability in agriculture.

Both research papers and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Silvia Tabasso
Dr. Emanuela Calcio Gaudino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

bio-based polymers
agri-food residues
enabling technologies
bioactive compounds
active materials
circular economy
sustainability

Published Papers (1 paper)

Review

21 pages, 1984 KiB

Open AccessReview

Harnessing Agri-Food Waste as a Source of Biopolymers for Agriculture

by Carlotta Valle, Monica Voss, Emanuela Calcio Gaudino, Claudio Forte, Giancarlo Cravotto and Silvia Tabasso

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(10), 4089; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14104089 (registering DOI) - 11 May 2024

Viewed by 230

Abstract

Nowadays, the world is facing a general problem of resource overconsumption and waste overproduction: to address these two issues, the United Nations delivered the 12th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which has the objective of ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. Currently, polymers are present in every aspect of our lives and have the disadvantage of mostly coming from fossil sources and causing pollution when disposed of the wrong way. Agriculture plays a key role in the overall world environmental issues, being responsible for the creation of between 13 and 21% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, it represents a continuously growing field, producing large amounts of waste. These residues can cause serious environmental concerns and high costs when disposed. However, agri-food waste (AFW) is a natural source of natural biopolymers, such as lignin, cellulose, pectin, and starch, but can also be used as a substrate to produce other non-toxic and biodegradable biopolymers, such as chitosan, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and polylactic acid (PLA) through microbial fermentation. These polymers find applications in agricultural practices such as mulching films, soil stabilizers, hydrogels, nanocarriers, and coating for seeds, fruits, and vegetables. The employment of AFW in the production of non-toxic, sustainable, and biodegradable biopolymers for their agricultural utilization is an example of a virtuous circular economy approach that could help agriculture to be more sustainable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unlocking the Potential of Agri-Food Waste for Innovative Applications and Bio-Based Materials)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Unlocking the Potential of Agri-Food Waste for Innovative Applications and Bio-Based Materials

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (1 paper)

Review

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI