Affiliation:
1. Department of Wine, Vine, and Beverage Sciences, School of Food Science, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
2. Laboratory of Process Analysis and Design, Department of Process Analysis and Plant Design, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Abstract
The canned fruits industry utilizes high amounts of water and energy, which results in the generation of vast quantities of wastewater and solid waste. The main scope of this study was to compare the environmental footprint of a canned fruits industry (alternative scenario) equipped with appropriate processes (pulsed electric fields, anaerobic digestion, composting, membrane bioreactors, and ultraviolet treatment) that sufficiently save energy and valorize production wastes to a typical setup that uses conventional waste methods (conventional scenario) via conducting a life cycle assessment study. Based on the results, the life cycle assessment confirmed the fact that the incorporation of the proposed methods, as described in the alternative scenario, dramatically reduced the environmental footprint of the industry, with certain environmental impact categories reaching a decrease of up to 90.00%. More specifically, according to the obtained results, a decrease of 11.81, 64.56, and 89.79% in regards to climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity, and freshwater consumption, respectively, was achieved in the alternative scenario compared to the conventional method. The study verified the environmental advantages of integrating such energy saving and waste treatment/valorization technologies across the canned fruits industry’s processing chain, contributing to environmental sustainability and safety.
Subject
Engineering (miscellaneous),Horticulture,Food Science,Agronomy and Crop Science
Reference40 articles.
1. Dietary Fibers from Fruits and Vegetables and Their Health Benefits via Modulation of Gut Microbiota;Cui;Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf.,2019
2. Dreher, M.L. (2018). Whole Fruits and Fruit Fiber Emerging Health Effects. Nutrients, 10.
3. Caballero, B., Finglas, P.M., and Toldrá, F. (2016). Encyclopedia of Food and Health, Academic Press.
4. Campos, D.A., Gómez-García, R., Vilas-Boas, A.A., Madureira, A.R., and Pintado, M.M. (2020). Management of Fruit Industrial By-Products—A Case Study on Circular Economy Approach. Molecules, 25.
5. Environmental Sustainability of Fruit and Vegetable Production Supply Chains in the Face of Climate Change: A Review;Parajuli;Sci. Total Environ.,2019
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献