Health from Brazilian Amazon food wastes: Bioactive compounds, antioxidants, antimicrobials, and potentials against cancer and oral diseases

Abstract

Brazilian Amazon contains over 30,000 plant species and foods rich in bioactive compounds such as terpenes, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, of potential health benefits (antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, anticancer, gastroprotection, prebiotic effects, among others). The existence of residues from non-edible parts of plants (leaves, roots, stems, branches, barks) or fruit wastes (peel, bagasse, seeds) in the agri-food industry and its supply chain is an important challenge in food loss and waste management. In this critical review several Amazon species, focusing on extracts/essential oils from nonedible parts or wastes, were analyzed in terms of phytochemicals, biological activity, and underlying mechanisms. We hope this review emphasizes the importance of Amazon’s sustainability initiatives on population health due to the potential shown against cancer, infectious diseases, and prevention of oral diseases. It is urgent to think about the conversion of amazon food wastes and co-products into high-added-value raw materials to develop novel drugs, food packaging systems, or nutraceutical foods.

Keywords:

• Agri-food co-products
• Amazon
• antibacterial
• anti-cancer
• antifungal
• antiparasitic
• non-edible plants
• phytochemicals

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Author contributions

Rayssa S. Lima: Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing-Original manuscript preparation. Anna Paula A. Carvalho: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Project administration, Writing-Reviewing, and Editing. Carlos A. Conte-Junior: Supervision. Writing-Reviewing and Editing, Funding. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by by Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – Brasil (FAPERJ) [grant numbers: E-26/010.000.984/2019, E-26/010.000148/2020, E-26/200.891/2021, E-26/200.329/2022, E-26/200.621/2022 and Process 274009;]; and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - Brasil (CNPq) [grant numbers: 313119/2020-1, 150071/2021-3].