Post-Harvest Pistachio Waste: Methods of Its Reduction and Conversion

Since some of the pistachio wastes are left in the environment, their collection and use in producing byproducts, in addition to creating added-value, reduces environmental contamination.

In this article, 38 references extracted from Scopus, Web of Science, and final reports of the Pistachio Research Center were reviewed.

The waste to dry pistachio crop ratio is within 1.25 to 2 ranges. The waste components are 64.5% of hulls, 25% of clusters, 10% of leaves, and 0.5% of kernels and shells. The hull extract considered as antioxidant and antimicrobial is applied in processing industries (e.g., jam and marmalade), dyeing, animal feed, edible mushroom culture media, as well as producing lactic acid, furfural, and tannin. The shell has the potential of generating activated carbon, tar, and cellulose nanocrystals. The small nuts are used in producing pistachio milk and oil.

Producing jam, pickle, and milk from peels and kernels, extracting oil from kernels, as well as processing its waste as the edible mushroom production culture substrate and animal feed are some solutions for converting the pistachio waste to value-added materials.