Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 105464 |
| Journal | Trends in Food Science and Technology |
| Volume | 168 |
| Early online date | 3 Dec 2025 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2026 |
Abstract
Background: Agro-industrial cereal processing generates large volumes of nutrient-rich by-products such as bran, husks, and spent grains that remain underutilized. These residues contain proteins, fibers, phenolics, and micronutrients that can be efficiently recovered through sustainable bioprocessing. Scope and approach: This review synthesizes recent advances in fermentation-based valorization of cereal waste and by-products, focusing on solid-state and submerged systems involving bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. It uniquely integrates microbial fermentation strategies with sustainability and examines their compositional enhancement, bioactive compound release, and antinutrient reduction. It also highlights emerging developments such as AI- and ML-assisted fermentation process optimization, which aligns cereal waste valorization with SDGs and next-generation bioprocess design. Key findings and conclusions: Fermentation enhances protein digestibility, phenolic bioaccessibility, and prebiotic oligosaccharide yield, while reducing phytic acid, tannins, and mycotoxins. Pretreatment, followed by fermentation, enhances nutrient release and improves the functional properties of bran, husks, and spent grains. These improvements support industrial applications range from functional foods and nutraceuticals to biofuels and bioplastics. However, scalability remains constrained by substrate variability, process optimization challanges, and economic feasibility. Integrating multi-omics datasets, adaptive biorefinery models, and AI-based control systems could accelerate the transition toward sustainable, data-driven cereal waste valorization, establishing fermentation as a cornerstone technology linking waste reduction, functional food innovation, and the global sustainability agenda.
Keywords
- Artificial intelligence, Bioactive compounds, Cereal residues, Circular bioeconomy, Machine learning, Solid-state fermentation (SSF), Sustainable development goals
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Biotechnology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Food Science
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Trends in Food Science and Technology, Vol. 168, 105464, 02.2026.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Fermentation-based valorization of agro-industrial cereal wastes and by-products
AU - Adil, Muhammad Zeeshan
AU - Oztekin, Sebahat
AU - Aziz, Afifa
AU - Gunal-Koroglu, Deniz
AU - Capanoglu, Esra
AU - Moreno, Andres
AU - Khalid, Waseem
AU - Esatbeyoglu, Tuba
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
PY - 2026/2
Y1 - 2026/2
N2 - Background: Agro-industrial cereal processing generates large volumes of nutrient-rich by-products such as bran, husks, and spent grains that remain underutilized. These residues contain proteins, fibers, phenolics, and micronutrients that can be efficiently recovered through sustainable bioprocessing. Scope and approach: This review synthesizes recent advances in fermentation-based valorization of cereal waste and by-products, focusing on solid-state and submerged systems involving bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. It uniquely integrates microbial fermentation strategies with sustainability and examines their compositional enhancement, bioactive compound release, and antinutrient reduction. It also highlights emerging developments such as AI- and ML-assisted fermentation process optimization, which aligns cereal waste valorization with SDGs and next-generation bioprocess design. Key findings and conclusions: Fermentation enhances protein digestibility, phenolic bioaccessibility, and prebiotic oligosaccharide yield, while reducing phytic acid, tannins, and mycotoxins. Pretreatment, followed by fermentation, enhances nutrient release and improves the functional properties of bran, husks, and spent grains. These improvements support industrial applications range from functional foods and nutraceuticals to biofuels and bioplastics. However, scalability remains constrained by substrate variability, process optimization challanges, and economic feasibility. Integrating multi-omics datasets, adaptive biorefinery models, and AI-based control systems could accelerate the transition toward sustainable, data-driven cereal waste valorization, establishing fermentation as a cornerstone technology linking waste reduction, functional food innovation, and the global sustainability agenda.
AB - Background: Agro-industrial cereal processing generates large volumes of nutrient-rich by-products such as bran, husks, and spent grains that remain underutilized. These residues contain proteins, fibers, phenolics, and micronutrients that can be efficiently recovered through sustainable bioprocessing. Scope and approach: This review synthesizes recent advances in fermentation-based valorization of cereal waste and by-products, focusing on solid-state and submerged systems involving bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. It uniquely integrates microbial fermentation strategies with sustainability and examines their compositional enhancement, bioactive compound release, and antinutrient reduction. It also highlights emerging developments such as AI- and ML-assisted fermentation process optimization, which aligns cereal waste valorization with SDGs and next-generation bioprocess design. Key findings and conclusions: Fermentation enhances protein digestibility, phenolic bioaccessibility, and prebiotic oligosaccharide yield, while reducing phytic acid, tannins, and mycotoxins. Pretreatment, followed by fermentation, enhances nutrient release and improves the functional properties of bran, husks, and spent grains. These improvements support industrial applications range from functional foods and nutraceuticals to biofuels and bioplastics. However, scalability remains constrained by substrate variability, process optimization challanges, and economic feasibility. Integrating multi-omics datasets, adaptive biorefinery models, and AI-based control systems could accelerate the transition toward sustainable, data-driven cereal waste valorization, establishing fermentation as a cornerstone technology linking waste reduction, functional food innovation, and the global sustainability agenda.
KW - Artificial intelligence
KW - Bioactive compounds
KW - Cereal residues
KW - Circular bioeconomy
KW - Machine learning
KW - Solid-state fermentation (SSF)
KW - Sustainable development goals
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105025195660&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tifs.2025.105464
DO - 10.1016/j.tifs.2025.105464
M3 - Review article
VL - 168
JO - Trends in Food Science and Technology
JF - Trends in Food Science and Technology
SN - 0924-2244
M1 - 105464
ER -