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Review
. 2021 Aug 30;10(9):2043.
doi: 10.3390/foods10092043.

Comprehensive Utilization of Thinned Unripe Fruits from Horticultural Crops

Mengyuan Wei  1 , Haoli Wang  1 , Tingting Ma  1 , Qian Ge  1   2 , Yulin Fang  1 , Xiangyu Sun  1
Affiliations
Review

Comprehensive Utilization of Thinned Unripe Fruits from Horticultural Crops

Mengyuan Wei et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Fruit thinning is a cultivation technique that is widely applied in horticulture in order to obtain high-quality horticultural crops. This practice results in the discarding of a large number of thinned unripe fruits in orchards each year, which produces a great waste of agricultural resources and causes soil pollution that may be an important reservoir for pest and plant diseases. Current studies showed that bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, organic acids, monosaccharides and starches are present in unripe fruits. Therefore, we reviewed the bioactive components obtained from thinned unripe fruits, their revalorization for the food industry, their beneficial effects for human health and the methods for obtaining these components. We also performed a calculation of the costs and benefits of obtaining these bioactive compounds, and we proposed future research directions. This review provides a reference for the effective utilization and industrial development of thinned unripe fruits obtained from horticultural crops. Furthermore, revalorizing the waste from this cultural practice may increase the economic benefits and relieve the environmental stress.

Keywords: comprehensive utilization; horticultural crops; non-phenolic bioactive compounds; phenolic bioactive compounds; thinned unripe fruits.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Thinning fruit: (A) peach, (B) kiwifruit, (C) grape, (D) and citrus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Utilization of thinned unripe fruit.
Figure 3
Figure 3
High added value of thinned unripe fruits (possible applications of unripe fruits in medicine, functional food, food preservation, and industrial materials).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The methods of extracting polyphenol.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The entire process of the separation and purification of polysaccharides.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Costs and incomes produced from the extraction of monomeric phenols from thinned fruits.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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