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The resources on our planet are finite and limited. Still, more and more waste is being produced worldwide. In this sense, it is essential to acquire circularity and "zero waste" approaches to move from the current environmentally unsustainable agri-food system to a more sustainable practice. Quince (Fig. 1) is the golden yellow pome fruit of Cydonia oblonga Mill. (syn. C. vulgaris Pers., Rosaceae family), a deciduous small tree native to the Trans-Caucasia and north of Iran and which has spread to west and east Asia, Europe, and America [1]. This fruit has an intense aroma, flavor, and acidity, but most varieties are too hard and sour to be eaten raw, so it is cooked or processed into other food products such as jam, jelly, and quince pudding or marmalade, being the peel discarded in the process as by-product [2]. Despite this, quince peel has been reported in previous studies to be rich in phenolic compounds with antioxidant potential such as hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeoylquinic acids), flavan-3-ols, and flavonol glycosides (quercetin and kaempferol glycosides) [2,3]. We would like to thank Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for the financial support to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) through national funds FCT/MCTES; to FCT for the PhD studentship granted to M. Añibarro-Ortega (2020.06297.BD) and the contracts of J. Pinela (CEECIND/01011/2018) and M.I. Dias and L. Barros (institutional scientific employment programcontract). Work financially supported by FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme through Project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P and by FEDER through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project GreenHealth - Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000042. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Pumpkin is traditionally cultivated and consumed worldwide, being the fruit and its by-products recognized by their nutritional and health benefits. In the current pandemic scenario and towards a circular economy, the development of a healthy and green technological food product was proposed using pumpkin pulp enriched with bioactive compounds obtained from pumpkin by-products. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020); national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for C. Pereira and L. Barros contracts and A.K. Molina and M.G. Leichtweis PhD grants (2020.06231.BD and 2020.06706.BD, respectively). The project is funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Investments and FCT, P.I. under the PRIMA Programme. PRIMA is an Art.185 initiative supported and co-funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Programme for Research and Innovation (PRIMA Section 2 - Multi-topic 2019: PulpIng (PRIMA/0007/2019 and Prima2019-08). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Natural matrices that are rich in anthocyanin compounds are increasingly explored by the food industry due to their coloring properties. As examples, Prunus spinosa L. and Lonicera careulea L. fruits are excellent sources of anthocyanins and are, therefore, increasingly explored for their coloring properties to be applied as food colorants, in addition to providing beneficial properties to the consumer [1-2]. This study aimed to evaluate the anthocyanin profile (HPLCDAD/ ESI-MS) and the antioxidant (TBARS and OxHLIA) and antimicrobial properties of the hydroethanolic extract of P. spinosa fruit epicarp and L. careulea fruit juice. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020); national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for C. Pereira and L. Barros contracts and A.K. Molina and M.G. Leichtweis PhD grants (2020.06231.BD and 2020.06706.BD, respectively). To FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P project; to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project Mobilizador Norte-01-0247-FEDER-024479:ValorNatural®. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The upocycling of agri-food by-products into high added-value products has been promoted in recent years info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In recent years, consumers have been looking for safer, higher quality foods, but also more convenient and ready-to-eat. Quality assurance through the elimination of pathogenic microorganisms has been a major concern for the food industry. However, an alarming number of diseases are still caused by different foodborne pathogens, which cause hundreds of deaths.1 Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes are food poisoning microorganisms frequently involved in microbial outbreaks. To ensure the safety and stability of food during storage, different physical, chemical, and biological preservation methods have been developed and are used in the food industry.2–4 Among non-thermal physical technologies of food preservation, irradiation has become a standard disinfestation and decontamination method worldwide. 5 This process consists in subjecting packaged or in-bulk foods to a controlled dose of ionizing energy, utilizing g-rays emitted by 60Co (or less frequently by 137Cs) radioisotopes, or high-energy electrons (e-beam) and X-rays produced by machine sources.5,6 It is effective for improving food safety and provides a safe quarantine solution.7 Irradiation is also used to prevent sprouting and post-packaging contamination, delay postharvest ripening and senescence processes, and is thereby used for shelf-life extension.8 However, the dose required to ensure safety through the elimination of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms can sometimes adversely affect the food quality. To avoid losses and increase the effectiveness of the treatment, irradiation has been applied in combination with other preservation methods. These combinations allow reducing the dose required to eliminate or reduce microbial populations due to the occurrence of synergistic or additive effects among the applied preservation factors.9–12 Thus, the microbial radiosensitization can be enhanced and food quality attributes preserved more effectively.13–15 Several preservation treatments involving the use of g-ray, X-ray, or e-beam irradiation in combination with microbicidal, microbiostatic, preventive/ protective, or multifunctional hurdles will be detailed in this chapter. Aspects to consider in the design of these treatments, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of these combinations will be emphasized, namely the impact on pathogenic microorganisms and quality parameters. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for the financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013) and the scholarship (SFRH/BD/92994/2013) attributed to J. Pinela, funded by the European Social Fund and MEC through the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Irradiation treatment might induce the formation of free radicals and other excited states of chemical species that react with other components in the food matrix, producing diverse radiolytic products. However, the formation of most of these compounds does not occur exclusively upon irradiation treatment, demanding a careful selection of the compounds to be specifically used as chemical markers. Furthermore, the analytical techniques necessary to determine such chemical compounds usually require advanced technical skills and ulterior equipment. In addition, in order to be considered an effective irradiation marker, the selected compound should be stable for a period of time at least as long as the shelf life of the product. This section is divided in two major themes: initially, the chemical compounds with the greatest potential as irradiation markers are thoroughly revised; secondly, the techniques more commonly used to characterize the described compounds are compared. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The major components of food matrices are, apart from water, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, while minor components include vitamins and minerals, which also possess crucial roles in human nutrition and are of major interest. The effects of radiation on these components have been studied for many years and are still explored nowadays in a wide range of foodstuff as the ionizing effects of radiation on food are highly dependent on the composition of the matrix and cannot be assumed to be similar to those observed in each individual component irradiated separately.1–3 The fact is that this technique induces some primary effects in food matrices that occur particularly due to the presence of water molecules via ionization and excitation, which exponentially increase by the secondary action of the free radicals formed in this phase. These chemically highly reactive species have the capacity of interacting with each other and/or with other food components, leading to the formation of new molecules that are not present in non-irradiated food. Some of these harmful compounds can include, among many others, 2-alkylcyclobutanones (2-ACBs), which are known unique radiolytic products. Irradiation can also have other effects in food, it can modify and/or improve its major chemical components and often enhance the extractability of specific molecules, improving their bioactivity.2,4,5 Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that food processing conventional methods such as heating, drying, and cooking may cause higher nutritional losses than irradiation techniques, which have been proven to afford virtually unaltered products.6 In this chapter, recent studies concerning the impact of irradiation processing are presented and discussed, as well as the principal factors affecting food irradiation chemistry. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion