Understanding the Composition of Food Waste

Abstract

Due to existing application gap, the diverse microorganisms and their processes in food waste have not been maximally explored or harnessed. This chapter addresses the possible application of “-omics” technologies to understand food waste microbial composition and metabolic processes, to stimulate future research in mining food waste for important microorganisms and bioactive compounds. The chapter highlights potential “-omics” procedures for food waste assessments. These innovative, culture-independent, high-throughput technologies have already revolutionized diverse fields of research and human endeavors. This chapter also introduces the concept of food wastomics to detect, identify, and measure the different molecules and microorganisms that are present and expressed in food waste such as DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, and metabolites. This knowledge will create a greater understanding of how discarded food is degraded and what useful products or organisms may be harvested from it. Finally, the chapter recommends the integration of food wastomics into foodomics.