Food production, processing and consumption generate enormous volumes of wastes - byproducts that cause environmental and economical negative effects. These wastes are considered an inexpensive source of bioactive components that can be used as functional ingredients in the food and dairy sectors. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional value, antioxidant and anticancer activities of apricot (Prunus sp.) and peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) kernels (AK & PK), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) rind (WMR) and banana (Musa spp.) peel (BP) in native and nano-powder form.
The results revealed that AK and PK are rich sources of fat and protein while WMR and BP had the highest carbohydrate, ash and dietary fiber content. All tested wastes had variable concentrations of major and minor elements. AK and PK had significant amounts of oleic and linoleic acids, while WMR and BP had significant amounts of palmitic, stearic, linoleic, and linolenic acids. All samples contained high concentrations of aspartic and glutamic acids, arginine, leucine and lysine.
BP and WMR are characterized by their higher phenolic and flavonoids contents, antioxidant effect and high cytotoxic effect against human liver cancer HepG2. Nano-powder of all the tested wastes had significantly higher solubility index (%), antioxidant and anticancer effects.