M. Petruccioli, R. Di Silvestro, G. Dinelli

This article is a brief survey of the origin, characteristics, and possible reuses of various agriculture and agro-industrial wastes and wastewaters. Byproducts and effluents often contain substances of high-added value that can be directly recovered or can represent a zero- or low-cost substrate for fermentation processes aimed at producing biofuels or biomolecules of actual or potential commercial interest. At first, focus has been put on the general upgrading criteria and strategies. Then, a number of examples have been reported and examined concerning wastes and wastewaters such as residual agricultural and agro-industrial biomasses, relevant effluents (i.e., slaughterhouse, winery and starch industry wastewaters, and whey), and byproducts of the olive-oil extraction industry.

Chapter 6.42