Fruit and Vegetable By-Products as Postharvest Tissue Fractions: A Raw-Material Framework for Plant-Based Food Development

Fruit and vegetable by-products can be interpreted more usefully as postharvest crop-derived tissue fractions than as generic waste streams or sources of recoverable compounds. This integrative review synthesizes evidence on plant tissues, postharvest quality, stabilization, safety, and analytical characterization to develop a tissue-to-raw-material framework for plant-based food development. The framework begins with crop source, cultivar or maturity, organ/tissue identity, and postharvest history, and then links these variables to stabilization, safety screening, analytical evidence, intended-use specifications, and route assignment. Brassicaceae crops—including napa cabbage, radish, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower—serve as representative cases because their leafy, root, stem, core, stalk, and trimming fractions differ in water status, tissue fragility, sulfur-related traits, sensory constraints, and stabilization needs. Application suitability is therefore assessed from tissue identity, postharvest condition, stabilization history, safety status, and intended-use specifications rather than compound richness alone. Within this framework, zero-waste development means assigning a documented tissue fraction to a supported food, fermentation, coating/film, or selected secondary-material route, while using lower-risk assignment, downgrading, or exclusion where traceability, safety, stability, or specification evidence remains insufficient.