Dietary phytochemicals are widely investigated in the field of chemistry, biology, nutrition, and medicine for their potential health-promoting effects. Indeed, many in vitro and in vivo studies provide evidence that a number of these compounds are involved in the prevention and/or control of chronic disorders such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The exponential growth of plants’ waste production from the agro-food industry is a critical global issue, considering their storage, disposal, environmental impact, and potential health risks. However, the exploitation of plant wastes/by-products for the recovery of added-value compounds offers a new avenue for industrial growth and waste management. Indeed, the research and development of new functional foods and health products from low cost raw materials is of great importance in nutraceutical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and agribusiness sectors. Besides, ​​optimizing the processing methods of waste products in order to reduce biomass utilization and environmental risks as well as to improve recovery of added-value compounds represents an urgent and necessary technological innovation for the benefit of mankind. In an industrial point of view, moreover, the utilization of food waste for recovering nutraceuticals is economical not only in production line but also in their disposal.

In this background, the purpose of this special issue is to feature the scientific knowledge on the nutraceuticals associated with plant waste products derived from fruits and vegetables and their in vivo and in vitro bioactivities. The information disseminated through this issue is hoped to serve as an interdisciplinary link between biochemistry of nutrition, functional foods, and food technologies. Knowledge of not only quantity and quality of nutrients and nonnutrients present in such functional foods but also their bioactivity may provide broader and valuable information on the food quality field of research.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Development and characterization of functional foods derived from plant wastes focussing on fruit and vegetables
• In vitro and in vivo bioactivities studies of nutraceutical components (including phytochemicals, bacteriochemicals, prebiotics, and marine bioactives) extracted from plant food wastes
• Extraction and characterization of bioactive components before and after food processing
• Process optimization (including emerging processing technologies and delivery systems such as microencapsulation)
• Selection of food waste with high potential bioactivity based on in vitro digestion studies