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CC BY 4.0 · Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2026; 03: a27931721
DOI: 10.1055/a-2793-1721
Original Article

Valorization of Food Waste through Controlled Oxidation: A Case Study on Densification of Onion Waste

Authors

  • Sudam Sankar Padhi 

    1   Department of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Sancoale, Goa, India (Ringgold ID: RIN166231)

  • Saurabh Chandrakant Patankar 

    1   Department of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, Zuarinagar, Sancoale, Goa, India (Ringgold ID: RIN166231)

The research work was funded by GreenShift Energy Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India.
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Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Around 20% of the fruits and vegetables produced globally are lost between harvest and retail owing to infrastructure and logistics challenges. There are no technologies available to utilize this waste comprehensively, which amounts to billions in economic losses annually. While methods are available for extraction of bio-active compounds, the technologies to harness fibers and sugars, which are the major components of the waste, are not reported. This work reports a new technique for valorization of waste onion, as it consists of carbohydrates and fibers and represents the typical composition of food and vegetable waste. The controlled oxidation of onion waste under ambient conditions led to decomposition of 90% of the sugars, which resulted in crosslinking of the fibers to create a strong and rigid densified matrix of the fibers. The densified matrix had a compression strength of 101.7 MPa and remained stable up to 100 °C. Such densified materials can be used for packaging applications or as one of the components of vegan leather. The onion waste and densified material were characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM imaging, elemental analysis, and compression testing to identify the structure–property relationship.

Keywords

Food waste - Oxidation - Onion - Packaging material

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 04 November 2025

Accepted after revision: 20 January 2026

Accepted Manuscript online:
20 January 2026

Article published online:
06 February 2026

© 2026. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Bibliographical Record
Sudam Sankar Padhi, Saurabh Chandrakant Patankar. Valorization of Food Waste through Controlled Oxidation: A Case Study on Densification of Onion Waste. Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2026; 03: a27931721.
DOI: 10.1055/a-2793-1721