STORAGE WASTE OF ASPARAGUS AS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS

Summary. Waste from the fruit and vegetable industry dominates on the food waste market. With a tendency of increasing consumers’ interest in healthy food and growing consumption of fruits and vegetables, according to forecasts of analysts, the share of this waste will constantly increase. Therefore, nowadays the search for effective solutions of fruit and vegetable waste use, e.g. to obtain biologically active compounds, is extremely timely. Amount of waste during processing and storage of asparagus can reach up to 50%. However, these disposed residuals are rich in polyphenolic compounds, which are characterized by high biological value and can provide additional income. This work provides evaluation of phenolic compounds’ content in the waste generated during commercial processing of asparagus, at the stages of preparation for storage and after storage. Two varieties of Asparagus were studied, namely, varieties Prius F1 and Rosalie F1. It was established that the amount of phenolic compounds in asparagus waste reaches 67.73-74.77 mg×100g-1FW depending on the variety. Despite the differences in color, the studied varieties of asparagus did not differ significantly in terms of polyphenolic compounds’ total content. In the asparagus waste, content of phenolic compounds was estimated to be only 20-27% lower than in whole spears. Significant differences in the amount of polyphenolic compounds in asparagus waste produced during commercial processing before and after storage were not recorded. Asparagus waste of both studied varieties Prius F1 and Rosalie F1 thus may become a valuable source for obtaining polyphenolic compounds of high biological activity.