Gian Pierre Silvera-Otañe

Edible roots and tubers, such as potato, sweetpotato, cassava, and carrot, are vital to global food security; however, postharvest quality control still relies largely on costly, subjective manual inspection. Computer vision and machine learning applied to multiple imaging modalities have emerged as non-destructive approaches for automated inspection and quality assessment. This review synthesizes 141 studies (2016–2026) that applied these methods to the non-destructive quality assessment of edible roots and tubers. The reviewed studies span eight species, with potato (77.3%) and sweetpotato (17.0%) being dominant. RGB imaging is the most common acquisition modality (79%), alongside the growing use of hyperspectral and near-infrared spectroscopy. Deep learning is now the default approach, with its share rising from 18% (2016–2020) to 71% (2024–2026). YOLO-family detectors lead real-time sorting and defect detection, while classical image processing and machine learning remain competitive for narrowly defined tasks such as size grading. Several gaps stand out. Evidence beyond potato and sweetpotato remains thin. Public benchmarks are almost nonexistent, with only 5 of 141 studies using a public dataset. Foundation and zero-/few-shot models were almost absent from the reviewed studies, and most studies measure benchtop accuracy rather than the full inspection-to-actuation pipeline. This review maps where the field has matured and where it has not, offering a structured reference point and a research agenda for non-destructive quality evaluation of these crops.

Kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus L.) is an Andean pseudocereal recognized for its nutritional composition and growing potential as a functional food ingredient. Beyond its high-quality proteins, dietary fiber, unsaturated lipids, and antioxidant compounds, increasing evidence suggests that the potential health-related effects of kiwicha may depend, at least partly, on the bioaccessibility of these components after gastrointestinal digestion rather than on their native composition alone. This narrative review examines how the structural organization of the kiwicha food matrix influences gastrointestinal digestion, nutrient bioaccessibility, and physiological functionality. It summarizes current evidence regarding protein, starch, lipid, and phenolic compound digestibility, emphasizing the release of bioactive peptides, antioxidant compounds, and other potentially bioactive metabolites during digestion. Furthermore, the review also discusses how processing technologies, including germination, extrusion, cooking, roasting, and fermentation, modify the food matrix, may increase nutrient bioaccessibility, and influence the functional performance of kiwicha-based foods. Critically, the available evidence indicates that processing-induced improvements in digestibility or bioaccessibility should not be interpreted directly as evidence of enhanced physiological functionality. Most studies remain based on in vitro digestion and biochemical assays, whereas evidence integrating intestinal absorption, systemic bioavailability, and human responses is scarce. Therefore, the main conclusion of this review is that the nutritional and potential functional relevance of kiwicha should be understood as a continuum linking food-matrix structure, processing-induced structural changes, gastrointestinal release, bioaccessibility, intestinal absorption, and ultimately physiological response.

Coffee production and consumption generate heterogeneous biomass and effluent streams, including pulp, husk, mucilage, parchment, silverskin, spent coffee grounds (SCGs), and processing wastewater. However, the literature on their valorization remains fragmented by feedstock and application, with limited integration of safety, regulatory, and scalability considerations. This structured narrative review synthesizes recent evidence on the composition, stabilization, fractionation, and cascade biorefinery valorization of the principal coffee by-products. Current evidence most strongly supports cascade schemes in which lipids and bioactive compounds are recovered before carbohydrate- and lignin-rich fractions are directed to material, biochemical, anaerobic, or thermochemical conversion. However, while this sequence is technically feasible for SCGs, its applicability to other by-products requires further validation. Composition, moisture, stability, and contamination risks vary substantially among coffee by-products, and many reported applications remain at laboratory scale. Food uses additionally require control of caffeine, mycotoxins, process contaminants, and sensory acceptability. Cross-study comparisons are constrained by inconsistent feedstock descriptions and operating conditions, and three main limitations constrain industrial implementation: inconsistent feedstock characterization, safety concerns for food applications that remain insufficiently addressed, and scarce pilot-scale demonstrations and techno-economic assessments. Future research should prioritize by-product-specific cascade designs, standardized mass and energy balances, and safety validation. Overall, coffee by-products can function as valuable secondary resources, but their sustainable utilization requires feedstock-specific strategies rather than universal sequences.

Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus L.) is an Andean pseudocereal with a nutritional profile characterized by its protein, dietary fiber, and bioactive compound content, adequate balance of essential amino acids, and the presence of bioactive compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardiometabolic properties. This review analyzes the main processing methods applied to amaranth, including milling, roasting, popping, rolling, extrusion, germination, fermentation, encapsulation, and component isolation, describing how these technologies modify its nutritional, functional, and technological properties. It also examines its applications in various food categories, such as baked goods, extruded snacks, fermented beverages, symbiotic foods, and gluten-free formulations, highlighting its potential as a functional food ingredient for developing functional foods and nutraceuticals. Furthermore, this study discusses the technological and industrial challenges associated with its processing, including structural, sensory, and scalability limitations, within the context of the growing global demand for healthy and sustainable foods. Finally, the study identifies knowledge gaps and research priorities to optimize processing conditions, improve sensory acceptability, and enhance industrial value, thereby supporting further evaluation of its integration into food production systems.

Gluten-free (GF) bread remains technologically challenging because the absence of gluten compromises dough viscoelasticity, gas retention, crumb structure, shelf life, and sensory acceptance, while starch-based formulations often provide limited nutritional value. This review critically integrates recent evidence on functional ingredients and emerging technologies for improving GF bread. Hydrocolloids, dietary fibres, pseudocereals, legumes, and proteins are examined in relation to water distribution, interfacial stabilisation, starch gelatinisation, protein–starch interactions, gas-cell stability, and nutritional enrichment. Sourdough fermentation, germination, extrusion, high hydrostatic pressure, ultrasound, cold plasma, microwave heating, and ohmic heating are also evaluated according to their effects on GF dough/batter rheology, loaf volume, crumb texture, bioactive compounds, sensory properties, and storage stability. Evidence indicates that no single ingredient or technology reproduces the multifunctionality of gluten. The most effective approaches combine complementary structuring agents with matrix-specific processing conditions and optimised hydration. However, responses depend on flour composition, ingredient dosage, process intensity, and production scale, while nutritional enrichment may compromise volume, softness, or sensory acceptability. Future studies should prioritise standardised rheological and sensory methods, mechanistic evaluation of multicomponent systems, pilot-scale validation, and multi-objective optimisation of technological, nutritional, sensory, and shelf-life attributes to facilitate the commercial development of high-quality GF bread.

Cocoa processing generates large amounts of agro-industrial by-products, mainly cocoa bean shells (CBS), cocoa pod husks (CPH), and cocoa mucilage, which remain underutilized despite their nutritional and bioactive potential. This narrative review critically analyzes the composition of cocoa by-products and emerging technologies for bioactive compound recovery. Results show that CBS and CPH are rich sources of dietary fiber (13.8–65.6%), phenolic compounds (up to 100 mg GAE/g), and methylxanthines (theobromine up to 11.6 mg/g in CBS). Emerging extraction technologies, ultrasound-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pulsed electric fields, and cold atmospheric plasma, improve extraction yield (20–150%), reduce processing time (from hours to minutes), and decrease solvent consumption compared to conventional methods. Regarding food applications, moderate CBS inclusion levels (10–20% in cookies, 2–8% in bread, 0.75–1.0% in sausages) improve dietary fiber and antioxidant capacity without compromising sensory acceptability, whereas higher levels (>20–30%) increase hardness, bitterness, and astringency. It is concluded that cocoa by-products are promising resources for sustainable functional food ingredients. However, industrial implementation remains limited by raw material variability, lack of standardized extraction protocols, sensory constraints, and insufficient biological validation of recovered compounds. Future research should focus on standardizing extraction protocols, validating bioaccessibility and bioactivity through in vivo studies, optimizing food formulations for sensory balance, assessing contaminants (heavy metals, mycotoxins), and evaluating techno-economic feasibility and life-cycle sustainability at industrial scale.

This review examines three Andean pseudocereals: quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), kañiwa ( Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen), and kiwicha ( Amaranthus caudatus L.). The focus is on the changes achieved through germination, enhanced by the use of emerging technologies applied as a pre-treatment. These grains are characterized by high-quality proteins with a complete essential amino acid profile, significant dietary fiber content, and diverse bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic properties. This review covers conventional germination methods and parameters and explores emerging non-thermal technologies used as a pre-germination step. Although substantial research has investigated these technologies in quinoa, studies on kañiwa and kiwicha remain limited. Current evidence indicates that technologies such as ultrasound, high hydrostatic pressure, cold plasma, and magnetic fields can optimize enzymatic activity, reduce antinutrient content, and promote the synthesis of functional compounds. Gluten-free baked products made from germinated flour demonstrate improvements in rheological, textural, and sensory properties. However, challenges persist in defining industrial-scale parameters and addressing the high manufacturing costs of gluten-free products. A bibliometric analysis shows an increasing global interest in gluten-free products, creating commercial opportunities for these Andean pseudocereals. Kañiwa is identified as particularly promising due to its climatic resilience and nutritional value. The conclusion emphasizes the need for further research to optimize processing protocols and validate scaling approaches, thereby enhancing the contribution of pseudocereals to global food security and sustainable development.