Protein Hydrolysates: From Agricultural Waste Biomasses to High Added-Value Products (Minireview)

The degradation of biomasses originating from agriculture and food processing offers the double benefit of removing polluting waste and introducing new bio-derived products into the market. Protein Hydrolysates (PHs), used as sources of bioactive peptides and amino acids play a fundamental role among biotechnological products deriving from waste biomasses. PHs are bio-based chemicals with high added value that can be produced through different types of hydrolysis: chemical, microbiological, enzymatic or mixed. Depending on the biomass used and the hydrolysis procedure chosen, products endowed with different features, such as high biostimulating, hormonal, fertilizing and nutritive capacities, can be obtained. The production of PHs from vegetable biomasses prove pivotal, as they offer absolute health guarantees and can be marketed in areas that do not abide products derived from animal waste, which currently are often found in the market. Here, the various possible applications of PHs will be discussed, along with the different processes for their production starting from agro-food waste biomasses, paying particular attention to the advantages of enzymatic hydrolysis.