Valorization of agro-food by-products: Advancing sustainability and sustainable development goals 2030 through functional compounds recovery

A large volume of food waste is produced while processing raw materials from the agro-food sector, including shells, skins, pulp, stems, seeds, etc. Disposing of these discarded materials in landfills or incinerators, which have detrimental environmental impacts, is expensive. However, despite this, food by-products may contain nutritional compounds that have a distinct market potential because they are abundant, inexpensive, and readily available. This review article discusses the effect of food waste on the environment and sustainability, with a particular focus on achieving the multiple goals of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda 2030. A detailed process of food waste valorization has been described, starting from the recovery of functional compounds, including polyphenols, essential oils, pigments, bioactive compounds, and carotenoids from food by-products, extraction strategies, characterization, and finally, utilization of extracted compounds in the Food sector, pharmaceutical sector, food packaging and Cosmetic sector which ultimately increase in the global food market and fulfilling different goals from Sdgs agenda 2030.