What is it about?
When we make almond or peanut milk, a large amount of pulp is leftover. We found a way to "upcycle" this waste into high-value oils and proteins using CO2 and natural plant extracts like menthol and eucalyptus. These natural mixtures act as safe, eco-friendly cleaners to pull out nutrients. The result is a "ready-to-use" ingredient for skin creams or food that is safe and sustainable.
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Why is it important?
This research hits the "sweet spot" of current global trends: the massive rise in plant-based diets and the urgent need for a circular economy. Here is why this work stands out right now. Why This Research Matters Now 1. Solving the "Plant-Milk Problem" The plant-based milk market is exploding, but it creates a massive secondary waste problem: thousands of tons of nutrient-rich pulp (okara/cake) are discarded daily. This study provides a high-tech blueprint for turning that "trash" into a "treasure" of lipids and proteins. 2. The "Clean Label" Revolution Consumers are increasingly wary of chemical solvents like hexane. Your work is timely because it uses terpenoids—compounds naturally found in essential oils—as the "magic ingredient." This allows companies to claim their products are "extracted with natural plant components," a huge marketing advantage in cosmetics and food. 3. Breakthrough in "Ready-to-Use" Extracts Usually, after extraction, you have to spend a lot of energy and money to strip away the solvent. This study is unique because it proves the solvent itself is safe (low cytotoxicity) and can stay in the final product as a functional ingredient. This cuts down production costs and energy use significantly. What Makes This Unique? a- A New "Green" Duo: It’s the first time these specific menthol and camphor mixtures have been paired with supercritical CO2 for nut waste. b- Dual-Purpose Results: It doesn't just extract oil; it preserves the functional properties of the protein, allowing for a "zero-waste biorefinery" approach. c- Soxhlet Efficiency, Nature's Safety: You’ve achieved the same power as old-school industrial methods but with ingredients you could technically find in a cough drop or a spa.
Perspectives
This work challenges the idea that high-yield extraction requires harsh chemicals. By using natural mint and eucalyptus compounds, we’ve matched industrial performance while keeping the process "clean." What excites me most is the "ready-to-use" aspect—the solvent itself is safe enough to stay in the final product. It’s a rare triple win: it reduces waste, cuts energy costs, and uses plant-based chemistry to turn nut milk scraps into premium ingredients. It’s practical sustainability.
PhD Jose Antonio Mendiola
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sustainable valorization of almond and peanut plant-based milk cakes: The use of terpenoid mixtures as ready-to-use solvents to enhance supercritical CO2 extraction, Food Chemistry, July 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.143796.
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