Canning and beverages industry wastes, which consist mainly of seeds and peels, have attracted considerable attention as potential sources of natural anti-oxidants such as phenolic compounds, tocopherols, carotenoids, and different class of lipids. The aim of this study is to obtain an overview of the health-beneficial ingredients remaining in the abundant and cheap residues of various solid-state pre-fermented (SSF) (with two fungal species, Aspergillus and Rhizopus)  stone-fruit agro-industrial wastes (e.g. plum (Prunus domestica L.), apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.)) and berry press residues in order to determine the quantity and quality of their health-promoting antioxidant capacity.

The project objectives are: determination of physical–chemical and microbiological characteristics of agro-food wastes as carriers in SSF; compositional analysis of oils; evaluation of phenolic compounds accumulation and antioxidant capacity of extracts from SS fermented stone fruit and berry wastes; mathematical modeling and optimization of fermentation/extraction processes in order to understand the mechanisms and relationships between substrates and strains and to simulate different scenarios.