An appealing review of industrial and nutraceutical applications of pistachio waste

Abstract

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is consumed in almost every part of the world enclosed in shells that are thrown out in baskets. Similarly, hulls separated from pistachio are discarded as waste in food processing industries. These waste materials contain functional constituents having immense industrial and nutraceutical applications. This review article summarizes the scientific investigations regarding the functional constituents and bioactive compounds in pistachio shells (PSs) and pistachio hulls (PHs). It also highlights the nutraceutical potential exhibited by functionally active compounds as well as their potential applications in various industries including nutraceutical, medicinal, and feed industries together with biosynthetic development of useful products and wastewater treatment. Pistachio waste (PW) comprising PS and PH is a rich source of various bioactive compounds. PS is full of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. PH is an excellent source of carbohydrates (80.64 ± 0.98%) (including glucose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, galacturonic acid) as well as ash (6.32 ± 0.26%) and proteins (1.80 ± 0.28%) with small amounts of fats (0.04 ± 0.005%). Owing to its composition, PW can be beneficial in many nutraceuticals, including antioxidation, cytoprotection, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-melanogenesis, neuroprotection, anti-cancer, anti-mutagenesis, anti-inflammation, and anti-microbial. The waste materials have vast applications in the food industry, such as bio-preservation of oils and meat products, prevention of enzymatic browning in fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms, development of functional cereal and dairy products, production of food enzymes, emulsions, and manufacturing of biodegradable films for food packaging. The use of these waste products to develop and design novel functional foods with improved quality is important for both food industries and food sustainability.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Pistachio waste
• by-products
• pistachio hull and shell
• biopreservation
• antioxidants
• nutraceutical

Acknowledgments

As undergraduate students, Syed Ali Hassan & Mueen Abbas are thankful to the teachers at the National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan for helping to write this review.

Authors’ contributions

Syed Ali Hassan: Conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft preparation, and review and editing. Mueen Abbas: writing—original draft preparation. Sania Zia: review and editing. Abid Aslam Maan: review and editing. Muhammad Kashif Iqbal Khan: review and editing, Abdo Hassoun: review and editing. Aamir Shehzad: review and editing. Richard Gattin: review and editing. Rana Muhammad Aadil: Conceptualization, supervision, review and editing.

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Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.