Waste Valorisation in Food Product Design

This training is part of our Green Skills Training Series, designed to offer practical learning opportunities for those keen to build expertise in sustainable agri-food systems. Explore the full series and register for other available modules at https://geek4food.com/training-modules/.

Organised by Teramo University, Italy, in collaboration with TU Dublin, Ireland

Designed for

• Postgraduate students pursuing or who have recently completed a Master’s or PhD
• Early-career and experienced professionals eager to explore and implement sustainable food waste valorisation and ingredient design solutions.

Prerequisites
A basic understanding of food processing, food formulation, and sustainability. You should be able to comprehend and apply the principles and technological functions of food biomolecules and ingredients in food product design.
Skills in case study analysis, team collaboration, and interpreting processing flow sheets are also required.

Course structure and topics

• Challenge-based lecture and discussion: Food waste – what it is, its sources, its uses, and how to manage it: current and future sustainable strategies for valorisation.
• Teaching session 1: Technological functionalities of food waste for green ingredients and food design.
• Teaching session 2: Biorefinery approaches and innovative technologies for food ingredients.
• Case study 1: Identify a specific food value chain and related waste and side-streams to be valorised for innovative food ingredients and products, based on their technological functionalities.
• Teaching session 3: Circular economy, industrial sustainability, and social impact.
• Case study 2: Propose and describe a technological solution for developing/producing a food ingredient from a holistic perspective (including technologies and applications, environmental impact, raw materials, costs, etc.).

Learning objectives

• Understand the concepts of food waste recovery, the technological functionality of waste biomolecules, and their potential for valorisation, along with the associated technological aspects.
• Understand the role of food waste recovery within circular economy and bioeconomy models, and the link between the circular economy and social impact.
• Identify potential food waste and side-streams for food ingredient development, based on technological functionality and available technologies.
• Apply biorefinery and food technology concepts in the design of food ingredients.

Assessment and evaluation
You will be assessed on how effectively you can apply what you’ve learned to real-world challenges in food waste valorisation for food ingredient design. Case studies will evaluate your ability to make informed decisions, while multiple-choice questions will test your understanding of key concepts.