Bio-Driven Sustainable Extraction and AI-Optimized Recovery of Functional Compounds from Plant Waste: A Comprehensive Review

The agrifood industry produces copious amounts of waste, which represent an execrable wastage of natural resources and result in economic losses over the entire value chain. This review compares conventional and biological methods for the recovery of functional compounds from plant wastes to rescues part of the intrinsic valuable elements contained therein. Biological methods involve bioprocesses based on hydrolytic enzymes and engineered bacterial strains, to facilitate the release of valuable compounds. Then, this review explores the innovative and transformative role of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for real-time monitoring, optimizing, and digitizing the extraction procedures. By combining the potential of biological extraction and AI integration, this review provides insights on how these approaches can revolutionize the agrifood sector, increasing the efficiency and environmental sustainability of the plant waste valorization process.