Valorisation of Coproducts and By-products Obtained from Nuts

Abstract

The world production of nuts is expected to be 52 million metric tons in 2021/2022, representing an increase of 3 to 16% in the production of some of these nuts. The group includes almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, walnuts in kernels, and pistachios in shells. In addition to being highly appreciated for their sensory characteristics, nuts are considered functional foods due to their high content of bioactive compounds. Besides the macronutrients, nuts are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, tocopherols, and phenolic compounds. The processing of nuts generates coproducts and by-products that can be used in food formulation or to obtain ingredients of interest for the food, cosmetic, and/or pharmaceutical industries. In this chapter, the production of these valorised ingredients from nuts, using sustainable technologies which address the circular economy concept, will the described. The emerging uses of these coproducts and by-products and the health benefits demonstrated through in vitro and in vivo studies will be discussed. Finally, underexploited nuts from the Amazon biome that are currently little known and explored will be presented.