Chandan Prasad
Texas Woman’s University, USA
Title: Agri-byproducts, an unexplored resource for health promotion
Biography
Biography: Chandan Prasad
Abstract
Agri-byproducts result from agricultural activities such as cultivation of rice, wheat, barley, corn, sugarcane, banana and other crops as well as food processing and manufacturing. These byproducts are rich source of arabinogalactans, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin and a variety of other compounds. While some of these byproducts have used for production of fibers, ethanol and chemicals such as furfural, the most go as animal feed, compost or waste. Significant progress in analytical/processing chemistry and biotechnology methods in the last decades has opened the possibility of developing new uses of agri-byproducts commonly referred to as agri-wastes. The cellulosic byproducts are well suited to be converted into high value nutraceuticals (beta-Glucans, Resistant Starch, Glucomannan, Chitosans, Arabinoxylans) capable of reducing inflammation, enhancing immune response and arresting cell growth of cancer cells. This presentation will summarize existing data and suggest future directions on identification, characterization, derivatization, biologic testing and function of agricultural byproducts as possible nutraceuticals for human use.