Grant: Alliance Grants

In Canada, nearly half of the food supply is wasted, and an untapped potential exists for upcycling fresh produce waste to generate new economic opportunities. The global cosmetic industry is valued at about $380 billion and is growing by an annual growth rate of 4.5%. Outcast Foods Inc of Nova Scotia upcycle fresh produce waste and surplus from retail, farmers, and agri-food business and convert them into whole plant powders and dehydrated products. Partnering with Outcast Foods, we propose to develop new cosmeceutical functional ingredients from fresh produce waste for the Canadian and global markets. The major challenges are to develop consumer- and environment-friendly processes to extract high-value bioactives from fresh produce waste while avoiding potential mycotoxin contaminants. The specific objectives of the proposed research are to: (i.) develop pre-treatment processes to reduce the risk of potential mycotoxin contaminants; (ii.) optimize a green extraction process to produce flavonoid- and carotenoid-rich products; (iii.) develop a novel encapsulation process for the extracts and characterize physio-chemical properties of resultant novel ingredients; and (iv.) assess the novel ingredients for biological properties desirable to use in cosmeceuticals. The proposed experimental approaches include the development of economic and sustainable processes for mycotoxin decontamination, toxic solvent-free bioactive extractions, and bioefficacy-enhancing encapsulation. The expected outcome will be the establishment of advanced and scalable manufacturing processes for novel cosmeceutical functional ingredients. It is anticipated that the project would contribute to the sustainability of the Canadian agri-food industry through the creation of new agri-food value-added products, contributing to food waste reduction and environmental protection.