The potential of coextraction as an emerging trend in the development of new functional food ingredients

Abstract

The search for new functional ingredients that meet the nutritional and technological requirements from the available resources cost-effectively has been an ongoing activity by both academia and industry. In this respect, coextraction of the ingredients is a promising approach for valorization of food wastes as can be seen from reports that have been emerging since the last decade. The process can be used for the coextraction of all major food ingredients, namely, lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides. The approach being presented in this review is based on using two or more resources to obtain ingredients through a single process. This review looks into some of these possibilities, presents future perspectives, and calls for attention from the scientific community to explore this area of research with high translational capabilities. Coextraction offers an opportunity for valorization of wastes with energy conservation and minimizing solvent usage, wherein the bioactives present therein can be coextracted with a major food ingredient and used in the formulations, while using the principles of circular economy. Apart from the processing advantage it provides, coextraction from different sources has been reported to positively influence the structural, nutritional, and functional properties of food ingredients.