Valorizing food waste to wellness: conventional vs. green extraction of food by-products

Food waste is a growing global concern due to the loss of essential nutrients and associated environmental impacts. Upcycling food waste into functional ingredients and nutraceuticals supports sustainability, wellness, and the circular bioeconomy. This review presents and compares conventional and green extraction technologies, including solvent extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, ultrasound-assisted, microwave-assisted, and pulsed electric field techniques, for recovering bioactive compounds from food by-products. Green extraction approaches are emphasized for their ability to enhance yield and purity while reducing chemical use, energy consumption, and environmental burden. The review also explores the role of biotechnological innovations and artificial intelligence in optimizing extraction processes, improving scalability, and ensuring economic feasibility. Furthermore, it addresses current challenges, including regulatory barriers, consumer acceptance, and technological limitations, that hinder large-scale implementation. This work underscores the valorization of food by-products into wellness-oriented formulations and highlights the potential of sustainable extraction technologies to transform food waste into high-value resources, contributing to global goals on sustainable production, health promotion, and environmental conservation.