A Review Paper on Agro-food Waste and Food by-Product Valorization into Value Added Products for Application in the Food Industry: Opportunities and Challenges for Cameroon Bioeconomy

Agricultural production, agro-industrial food processing, distribution and consumption generate high Amounts of varied food by-products and waste which place a heavy burden on the environment and cause losses to the food industry. The most common disposal methods of food wastes are the use of landfills and incineration, which lead to several environmental, social, and economic issues. However, many of these by-products and wastes have been reported to be higher than the final product in terms of nutritional or functional properties, making them potential raw materials for application in the agro-food industry. Together with the recent sustainable development goals of food security, environmental protection, and energy efficiency, these are the key reasons why food waste valorization is necessary. Valorization of food waste within the bio-economy approach offers an economical and environmental opportunity that can serve as a solution to the issues faced with the conventional disposal methods. Traditionally, in Africa, especially in Cameroon, food by-products and waste have been valorized into a range of products for application in food and food preparation, including food additives and spices, food emulsifiers and stabilizers, food salts and nutraceuticals. Traditional Waste valorization methods could achieve sustainable development in technologically underdeveloped countries by going beyond improving agro-food waste management to the production of useful biochemicals, food ingredients and food products, which can be referred to as value added products from waste. In addition, the processing and conversion of these agro-food by-products and waste generated in the poor regions of the world for the production and formulation of novel foods and biochemicals will directly benefit the local communities by reducing environmental pollution and increasing income in the food industry. This review aims at providing insight into current trends in food waste valorization using traditional methods in an African country such as Cameroon. This paper presents the variety and type of food waste within the food chain that can be valorized into various products using traditional methods. Furthermore, a series of examples of key food waste valorization schemes and value added products as case studies to demonstrate the advancement in traditional bioconversions are described, bringing out the opportunities and challenges for the Cameroon bioeconomy.