Bromatological characterization of fruit waste

In Colombia, a high amount of fruit waste is currently generated. These causes a negative environmental impact due to its high organic load. However, this type of waste has compounds in its structure that can be used in order to reduce the environmental impact and to obtain added value. The main of this study was to characterize bromatologically sixteen residues of fruit processing in Colombia, in order to propose a possible use in the food industry. The bromatological characterization of the waste was carried out by means of the quantification of dry matter (ASTM E1756-08), ash (ASTM E1755-01), proteins (Kjeldahl method), crude fats (AOAC Official Method), total dietary fiber (AOAC 993.21) and carbohydrates. It was found that grape and soursop seeds, lulo peel and tree tomato stem presents the highest total dietary fiber with content percentages above 50 %. Also, tree tomato, soursop, tangerine and orange seeds are an important source of protein and crude fats, with values highest than 12 and 27 %, respectively. It was also found that pineapple, mango, soursop and grape peel have a carbohydrate content greater than 50%. As a conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that fruit waste have a potential use in the food industry, due to their protein, crude fat, total dietary fiber and carbohydrates content.