Microbial Degradation of Agricultural and Food Wastes into Value-Added Products

Abstract

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost within the food supply chain. In many countries, food and agricultural wastes are dumped in landfills. Plastic wastes from agriculture have become a major concern, especially with increasing pollution associated with the microplastics and nanoplastics in the ocean and marine ecosystem. Microbial biodegradation of the agricultural wastes and the conversion into value.added products could meet the economic and environmental demands to reduce land pollution, whilst benefiting from the generated products. Furthermore, energy together with other combustible municipal wastes can be recovered. Food wastes have attracted much interest for conversion into bioenergy such as biogas, hydrogen, ethanol, and biodiesel, and the residues are further used as animal feed or fertilizer. This review highlights the use of plastics in agriculture, their disposal, and degradation. Factors affecting biodegradation are also discussed. The production of bioenergy from agro.waste and food waste is elaborated.