Sustainable exploitation of winery by-products to recovery bioactive compounds using membrane technology

Currently, the use of waste generated in the agri-food industry for the recovery of valuable compounds is one of the most important fields of study. Among the agri-food processes, the cultivation of grapes for the production of wine generates large amounts of waste, whose elimination, can significantly reduce environmental impacts. Therefore, like in all food industries, the by-products from the winemaking process have been investigated to consider methods for their treatment, minimization, and prevention. However, during the last few years there has been a growing interest in their recovery as valuable compounds for nutraceutical applications. The efficient and economic recovery of these molecules represents a key point for the evaluation of the compounds derived from this process. The enormous amount of waste produced in winemaking, combined with well-designed extraction methods and existing technologies, leads to the recovery, recycling and improved sustainability of high-value ingredients added to the food chain. However, the high bioactivity of the compounds, together with their susceptibility to enzymatic and thermal degradation, make their handling difficult. In this context, this PhD thesis discusses different extraction processes, membrane operation integration and microencapsulation of bioactive compounds for their separation, protection and conservation.