Passion fruit waste in diets for quail in the laying phase

 It was aimed to evaluate the effect of including the waste from passion fruit pulp extraction in diets for Japanese quail in the laying phase on their production performance and egg quality. A total of 280 female quail were distributed into five treatments with eight replicates and seven birds per cage. Treatments consisted of 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8% inclusion of passion fruit waste in the diet. The experiment began with quail at 70 days of age and lasted 63 days, with performance evaluated every 21 days and egg quality in the last two days of each cycle. There was no difference between the treatments for feed intake, body weight, specific gravity, or eggshell thickness. However, a decreasing linear regression was obtained for feed intake with the inclusion of the waste, while a quadratic response was show by egg production, weight and parts of the egg. Inclusion of up to 6% passion fruit waste in diets for quail is recommended to maintain the indices in relation to control treatment. However, the best values for egg-laying rate and for the weights of egg, albumen, yolk, and shell are obtained with 2.5 to 3.5% inclusion of passion fruit waste.

Valorization of byproducts from tropical fruits: Extraction methodologies, applications, environmental, and economic assessment: A review (Part 1: General overview of the byproducts, traditional biorefinery practices, and possible applications)

Tropical fruits represent one of the most important crops in the world. The continuously growing global market for the main tropical fruits is currently estimated at 84 million tons, of which approximately half is lost or wasted throughout the whole processing chain. Developing novel processes for the conversion of these byproducts into value-added products could provide a viable way to manage this waste problem, aiming at the same time to create a sustainable economic growth within a bio-economy perspective. Given the ever-increasing concern about sustainability, complete valorization through a bio-refinery approach, that is, zero waste concept, as well as the use of green techniques is therefore of utmost importance. This paper aims to report the status on the valorization of tropical fruit byproducts within a bio-refinery frame, via the application of traditional methodologies, and with specific attention to the extraction of phenolics and carotenoids as bioactive compounds. The different types of byproducts, and their content of bioactives is reviewed, with a special emphasis on the lesser-known tropical fruits. Moreover, the bioactivity of the different types of extracts and their possible application as a resource for different sectors (food, pharmaceutical, and environmental sciences) is discussed. Consequently, this review presents the concepts of tropical fruit biorefineries, and the potential applications of the isolated fractions.