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Review
. 2023 May 7;13(5):634.
doi: 10.3390/metabo13050634.

Delving into Agri-Food Waste Composition for Antibacterial Phytochemicals

Jorge A M Pereira  1 , Cristina V Berenguer  1 , José S Câmara  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Delving into Agri-Food Waste Composition for Antibacterial Phytochemicals

Jorge A M Pereira et al. Metabolites. .

Abstract

The overuse of antibiotics in the healthcare, veterinary, and agricultural industries has led to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), resulting in significant economic losses worldwide and a growing healthcare problem that urgently needs to be solved. Plants produce a variety of secondary metabolites, making them an area of interest in the search for new phytochemicals to cope with AMR. A great part of agri-food waste is of plant origin, constituting a promising source of valuable compounds with different bioactivities, including those against antimicrobial resistance. Many types of phytochemicals, such as carotenoids, tocopherols, glucosinolates, and phenolic compounds, are widely present in plant by-products, such as citrus peels, tomato waste, and wine pomace. Unveiling these and other bioactive compounds is therefore very relevant and could be an important and sustainable form of agri-food waste valorisation, adding profit for local economies and mitigating the negative impact of these wastes' decomposition on the environment. This review will focus on the potential of agri-food waste from a plant origin as a source of phytochemicals with antibacterial activity for global health benefits against AMR.

Keywords: agri-food wastes; antibacterial activity; bacterial infection; multidrug resistance; phytochemicals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Integrated overview of the One Health concept showing the interdependence between human, animal, and environmental health and the interplay of the main factors that drive each one of the three categories (adapted from [7,8,9]).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overall strategy to unveil phytochemicals with antimicrobial activity from food wastes as a strategy for their valorisation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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