Food grade pilot scale strategy for non-thermal extraction and recovery of phenolic compounds from orange peels Niglio, Saverio Razola-Díaz, María del Carmen Waegeman, Hendrik Verardo, Vito Orange peels Phenolic compounds Downstream processing The orange peels (OP) derived from orange juice factories consist of several polymers and molecules that could be recovered using a biorefinery approach. This study presents a pilot-scale strategy for the extraction and recovery of phenolic compounds from OP, aiming to demonstrate a sustainable, non-thermal process that operates without the use of solvents and complies with food-grade standards. The extraction process was conducted in a food-grade manner on a 1000 L scale, starting with the enzymatic hydrolysis of pectin in the biomass, followed by ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) at 54 W/gslurry and 20 ◦C. Solid/liquid separation via decanter centrifuge allowed to recover the solution containing the phenolic compounds, that was further purified via sequential cross-flow microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF). The final product was analysed by HPLC-ESI-TOF-MS, revealing an interesting phenolic profile with several potential bioactivities and a total polyphenol content (TPC) of 3.3 g/L. The food-grade analysis confirmed the potential application of the final product in food-related processes, such as food packaging or fortification. This work highlights a scalable and environmentally friendly method to convert agro-food waste into valuable bioactive compounds, aligning with green chemistry principles and zero-waste strategies. 2024-09-04T09:52:27Z 2024-09-04T09:52:27Z 2024-07-23 journal article Niglio, S. et. al. LWT 205 (2024) 116538. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2024.116538] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/93904 10.1016/j.lwt.2024.116538 eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/817936 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier