High fructose syrup production from mixed food and beverage waste hydrolysate at laboratory and pilot scales

Conversion of food and beverage (F&B) waste into high fructose syrup (HFS) was proposed in this study. Hydrolysate obtained from saccharification of mixed F&B waste is rich in glucose (260.3 ± 7.8 g L⁻¹) and fructose (54.1 ± 1.6 g L⁻¹) but also contains trace preservatives, caffeine, colourants, ions and soluble proteins. Over 99% of these impurities were removed by adsorption and ion exchange chromatography, followed by enzymatic isomerisation where glucose was converted to reach 50% of fructose content. Pilot scale downstream processing was successfully conducted with more than 89% of sugars recovered from the hydrolysate. Mass balance analysis indicated an overall conversion yield of 0.08 kg HFS per kg of mixed F&B waste and meanwhile the HFS also conforms to industrial standards. This proposed process is believed to promote the development of a circular economy by recycling F&B waste as a renewable resource for HFS production.