Extracting hidden riches from pineapple waste

India is a significant producer of fruit-based products. However, a huge quantity of the raw material as well as the produce ends up getting wasted.

Take pineapples for example. A significant 45-50% of the fruit comprises non-edible parts (peels, crown, core), which are lost during its processing.

This “waste” is actually a resource and contains many valuable components that are lost during disposal or landfilling. In order to address this concern, researchers worldwide are seeking sustainable and green processing methods which would have minimal environmental impact.

One such researcher is Shivali Banerjee, who is working at the IITB-Monash Research Academy on a project titled, ‘Extraction of Bio-based Chemicals from Pineapple Wastes’ under the supervision team of Prof Amit Arora (IITB), Prof Antonio Patti (School of Chemistry, Monash University), and Dr R Vijayaraghavan (School of Chemistry, Monash University). This research contributes to addressing issues that are of international significance. The pineapple industry is important not only in India, but also in Australia.

The Academy, which operates a graduate research program in Mumbai, is a Joint Venture between IIT Bombay and Monash University. Research is conducted by scholars in both countries, while studying for a dual-badged PhD from both organisations.

Shivali’s dream is to develop an integrated biorefinery from pineapple waste, where multiple products can be extracted from the same raw material by green and cost-effective extraction methodologies. She is confident that this project will directly have an effect on the stakeholders — farmers, food processing industries, and food researchers. Besides, a biorefinery-based approach would be able to link more than one industry for sustainable production of value-added products.

“Processing industries hardly pay any attention to the potential of the residues of fruit,” Shivali laments. “Pineapple waste, for example, is rich in sugars, polyphenols, enzymes, organic acids, vitamins, and dietary fibres. With appropriate treatment, this can be converted into natural preservatives, flavouring agents, food tenderisers, food additives, pharmaceutical drugs, and dietary-fibre-rich sources.”

In a field survey that she conducted in Darjeeling, West Bengal (2017), Shivali found that the large quantity of on-farm waste (leaves and stem) poses a major concern to the pineapple growers in the north-eastern part of India, and, a majority of it is therefore burnt on the fields before growing the new crop. “I am trying to recover and purify an enzyme called bromelain from pineapple waste, which has potential applications in food and therapeutics. Highly purified bromelain can fetch up to USD 2400 per kilogram (Ketnawa et al., 2012), and the economics can further be improved as the extraction is made from low value waste,” she explains. “Other important products that I have focused are on dietary fibres, sugars, and phenolics. Dietary fibres from pineapple waste could be a functional ingredient in health foods. Phenolics are other high-value chemicals that possess many health benefits such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and antioxidant effects.”

Conversion of Pineapple Waste into value-added products

Prof Murali Sastry, CEO, IITB-Monash Research Academy, is among those following Shivali’s work with keen interest. “All over the world, fruit waste rich in valuable components is lost in dump yards or landfills. We urgently need to address this by seeking green and sustainable processing methods that could valorize the processing waste and minimise environmental impact,” he says. “The Academy provides an opportunity for industry in Australia and India, as well as for IIT Bombay and Monash University, to train the next generation of talents in India. We’re hoping that Shivali and other research scholars from the Academy will become much sought after around the globe.”