Valorisation of phenolic compounds from plant by-products as natural preservatives for fruit preservation and food processing

Vietnam produces a diverse and large volume of fruits, spice, and herbs. However, large amounts of these matrices are still discarded and seen as waste. Indeed, these by-products can still be valorized into high added-value and bio-active, natural extracts. After screening several spices, and with the already obtained knowledge of fruit by-products, several extracts will be chosen to work with in this proposal. The obtained extracts, rich in phenolic compounds, can show different bioactivities such as antimicrobial and antioxidative activities, the two focused activities of this project. However, to valorize the obtained extracts, they need to be stabilized. Therefore, different encapsulation techniques will be explored. Finally, their added values will be demonstrated to preserve different food matrices, i.e. fresh fruits and a fermented meat. Pilot processing of the encapsulated natural preservatives and trial applications of the extracts will be carried out at participating companies. During the project execution, dissemination of knowledge will be performed towards industry and government by organizing short courses and workshops.