Valorizing Agro-Industrial Waste into Biosorbents, Biosurfactants and Functional Materials

Agriculture and agro-processing generate large, under-used by-product and waste streams—shells, peels, husks, oil-bearing residues, and processing effluents. Within a circular bioeconomy, these residues are renewable feedstocks rather than waste. They can be converted into biological adsorbents that capture heavy metals, dyes, and organic pollutants; into green surfactants and microbial biosurfactants for cleaning, formulation, and remediation; and into functional materials such as bio-based coatings and resins. These product families share a common starting point—agro-industrial waste—and a common purpose: cleaner processing, pollutant removal, and resource recovery. Compared with fossil-based production, they use renewable inputs and lower the environmental burden. Realizing their potential still requires progress in bioprospecting for suitable microorganisms, fermentation and process optimization, product recovery, and functional characterization, so that waste-derived sorbents, surfactants, and materials become robust, scalable, and fit for real industrial use.This Research Topic gathers original research and reviews on valorizing agro-industrial by-products and waste streams into value-added products, along three connected pillars centred on sorbents, surfactants, and functional materials. First, biological adsorbents and biosorbents—microbial biomass, biosurfactant-assisted systems, and bio-derived sorbents—for capturing heavy metals, dyes, and organic pollutants from water and soil. Second, functional bio-based materials produced from agro-industrial waste, including bio-based coatings and resins, with green corrosion inhibitors as one application, obtained through biotechnological or green processing routes. Third, microbial and fermentation-based production of green surfactants and biosurfactants (e.g., rhamnolipids, surfactin, sophorolipids) from agro-industrial substrates, and their use in cleaning, formulation, and remediation. We welcome work on bioprospecting for suitable microorganisms, fermentation and process optimization and scale-up, product recovery, and structural and functional characterization. Bringing together microbial biotechnology, sustainable bioprocessing, and agro-waste-based materials, the collection connects these product families around a shared, application-driven goal within a cleaner, circular bioeconomy.We welcome articles addressing—but not limited to—the following themes:○ Biosorbents for removal of heavy metals, dyes, and organic pollutants;Biosurfactant-assisted remediation and resource recovery from wastewater and contaminated soil;○ Bio-based functional materials, coatings, and resins from agro-industrial waste, including green corrosion inhibitors;○ Bioprospecting for suitable microorganisms and fermentation/process optimization and scale-up;○ Structural and functional characterization of waste-derived sorbents, surfactants, and materials.All submissions must use agro-industrial waste or by-products as the primary feedstock component. Studies using fossil-based feedstocks as the main component, or with no link to agro-industrial waste valorization, fall outside this collection’s scope. Topic editors: Mousumi Debnath, Sampson Kofi Kyei, Onyewuchi Akaranta Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84469/valorizing-agro-industrial-waste-into-biosorbents-biosurfactants-and-functional-materials