Strategies for Porcine Liver Valorization as a Source of Food Ingredients

Purpose of Review The sustainable consumption and production goal and the decline of offal consumption have led to the interest in seeking alternatives for porcine livers, the largest edible gland. To that aim, we reviewed the potential of porcine livers as a source of food ingredients together with the use of eco-innovative processes and technologies for their valorization. Recent Findings It is possible to extract and transform various compounds and fractions into food ingredients with tailored techno-functional properties using eco-innovative strategies involving microbial, enzymatic, physical, and chemical processes. These strategies can also contribute to improving the efficacy of different extraction and transformation processes as well as enhance sensory properties. Summary Porcine liver is an interesting source of valuable compounds with multiple food applications and health benefits. Through extraction, processing, and transformation, these compounds can yield versatile food ingredients, thereby optimizing the profitability of this resource for human consumption through alternative presentations and potentially diminishing consumer reluctance compared to the whole liver.

This work was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación [10.13039/501100011033], grant numbers RTA2017-00024 (coordinated projects C01 to C04) and PDC2021-121822 (coordinated projects C21-C22), and by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”.

Bioactive peptides

Protein hydrolysates

Techno-functional properties

Antioxidant activity

Published