Valorisation of under-utilised onion waste and side streams

Among vegetables, onion is the second most widely consumed crop, providing a relatively high value raw material for food industries. There are very large quantities of onion waste across current value chain (>6M tons in the Europe) which currently remain under exploited. The substantial amount of waste thus reduces the economic efficiency of the onion supply chain while also increasing the carbon footprint and environmental impact. The efficient food production with total usage of agricultural raw materials offers a wealth of opportunities for developing a smart circular economy. This project aims to develop technical understanding towards valorising onion side-streams using novel process technologies in order to create structuring ingredients such as fibres, bioactive compounds, and natural flavours, with the view to improve sustainability and create economic value for the food sector. The project will be carried out in collaboration with Unilever and Symrise AG.