The extraction of bioactive compounds from food residues using microwaves

• Food waste can be source of bioactive compounds.
• The microwave assisted extraction technique can be used.
• Patents and work in the field are described.
• Future directions are also considered.

The growing consumer's awareness about correlation between nutrition and health has led the food industry toward development of foods enriched with bioactive compounds. Considering that not all bioactive compounds are readily available and in view of the increasing attention of the European community to preserve the environment resources and minimize the high costs of waste disposal, the new trend consisted into waste recovery of industrial food processing residues as potential sources of compounds with active properties. Among the eco-friendly techniques, microwave assisted extraction has been accepted as powerful system. Recent patents and works dealing with this topic have been described and an overview on aspects that still need to be developed is also included.