| Project Name: | Phenolic extract from onion skins – scoping study results |
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| BPA Number: | 127 |
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Summary of Project and Key Findings:
Biological resource: Onion skins derived from the wet preparation of onions for processing and from the grading-packing of fresh onions for domestic and export sale represent a significant biological resource, rich in phenolic phytochemicals implicated in a range of health benefits.
The waste stream comprises 1000 tonnes per annum of wet onion skins containing 2% total phenolics, of which approximately half is quercetin and its glycosides.
Additional waste onion skins (dry) are produced during grading and packing by other onion packhouses in New Zealand. These could potentially be collected from the major packhouses, amounting to an estimated 1200 tonnes p.a. available as an additional feedstock.
Product concepts
We envisage the following products:
- Phenolic extract (40% total phenolics, i.e. ~20% quercetin)
- Quercetin extract (90% quercetin)
- Fibre-rich product (70% insoluble dietary fibre, 6% total phenolics, i.e. ~3% quercetin).
Market insights
We have found that a substantial global market exists for quercetin-rich extracts. Rutin (quercetin-4-rutinoside) production alone is 3,600 tonnes p.a. Consumer health benefits targeted include antiinflammatory, cardiovascular health, hypocholesterolemic, and antioxidant effects.
Prices for onion extracts with 5-30% quercetin-containing compounds range from US$8 to 80 per kg. The price range for quercetin extract is US$60 to 100 per kgThe opportunity for phenolic-rich extracts is expected to be worth up to $NZ4M p.a.
The market for quercetin-based products is expanding but the processing cost is an important factor in determining profitability. Higher rates of phenolic enrichment have higher processing costs, losses of phenolic compounds, and lower yield. Utilisation of the fibre-rich product stream is likely to be important to the overall profitability in this project.
Next technical steps
Confirmation of the compositions and yields of phenolic-rich ingredients is needed at a laboratory scale to enable selection of the best mix of products to target for the company to progress through to stage 3.
Further work is required to check the feasibility of the fibre-rich ingredient at the laboratory scale and to analyse its potential functionality as a dietary component.
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