Circular economy. Valorization of waste plant biomass to produce active ingredients with antimicrobial activity against human and plant pathogens

Plant extracts rich in bioactive compounds represent an alternative to the use of synthetic drugs. Extensive research over the last two decades has identified plant antimicrobials with a broad spectrum of activity against a variety of fungal and bacterial pathogens. Plant biomass wastes from agricultural and agro-industrial processes aim at a "zero waste" economy and represent the most important source of phytochemicals. This review provides information in processing technologies for the valorization of agroindustrial biomass wastes with a dual purpose: to reduce agricultural waste and convert it into value-added metabolites active against human and plant pathogenic microorganisms. In this chapter, published studies on active ingredients against human and plant pathogens obtained from the wine industry, from the olive oil extraction industry and from the fruit juice industry have been considered.