There is a pressing need to make better use of discarded waste and to identify the best processes for reuse or regeneration of materials of potential value in the development of the green cycle in food product manufacture, whether post consumption or at inefficient stages of food production.
In the Hardy group at Lancaster University we have an interest in developing novel polymer based materials (e.g. those based on conducting polymers, electroactive and photoactive polymers) for use in organic electronics. To this end we are identifying specifically structured and potentially valuable sources of compounds for use in the rapidly emerging field of organic electronics and innovative bioactive materials from unused or discarded berry fruit, and other sources of food waste. We are in the process of collaboration with Dr Alexandre Fuito and other members of the Hutton Institute who have developed a compound library of chemicals and relative abundance found in horticultural berry varieties - Berrybase. From their database and fruit variety accessions information we have identified scores of potential unusual and complex compounds that, after toxicological database screening, may lend themselves as precursors to a variety of conducting polymers and even new bioactive agents for biomedical applications. We provide a snapshot overview of the progress of this process so far.