Fruit & veg by-products

20 Sept

Written By Words by Eliot Beeby and Josh Evans

This is part of our series on upcycling.

Fruit and vegetable by-products are all the peels, seeds, stems, shells, pits, pulp, leaves and other bits of fruits and vegetables that either aren’t typically thought of as edible for people, or if they are edible, aren’t widely consumed. These components are often among the most nutritious parts of the plant, rich in dietary fibre, vitamins, antioxidants, polyphenols and other active compounds.¹ Upcycling through fermentation and other techniques offers a way to unlock this otherwise wasted potential for nourishment and flavour.

This a different challenge to reducing wastage of perfectly edible fruit and vegetables caused by overbuying, improper storage, packaging factors, expired ‘best before dates’ or other reasons. We also define fruit and vegetable by-products produced in domestic and commercial kitchens and/or processing and production facilities separately from farm by-products—even if some may ultimately be from the same plants—because the factors that shape these wastes differ in each site.

These by-products typically make up between 20-60% of fruit and vegetables by mass, meaning this is a hugely untapped resource.² The fate of these by-products varies regionally: although some go to green waste for domestic or municipal composting, much ends up being incinerated or going to landfill. By expanding our perspective on edibility, we can utilise these by-products to produce more deliciousness without growing extra food.

Here we present some of our culinary research into ways we can better utilise fruit & veg by-products:

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