Yoghurt, cheese, smoothies and jelly enriched with the hidden goodness of oranges and pomegranates

When we squeeze an orange or press a pomegranate, a surprising amount is left behind. In fruit processing, peels, seeds, skins and pulp can account for up to 60% of the fresh fruit. They are often treated as waste, yet they are packed with natural compounds that protect the fruit and can also benefit us.

EXCEL4MED, a Horizon Europe project coordinated by the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, that reaches its final chapter on 31 December 2026, set out to prove that these leftovers deserve a place at our tables.

Since January 2023, 14 partners from Greece, Malta and France have worked together to turn orange and pomegranate by-products into new foods, using clean and gentle technologies.
 

Four ways to taste the idea

The project developed products that people already know and enjoy, enriched with natural ingredients recovered from fruit by-products.

Yoghurt-type dessert. A creamy goat-milk yoghurt enriched with a powder made from orange peel. The team tested different amounts to find the sweet spot between added goodness and a taste people enjoy.

Brined white cheese. Made following the traditional Feta cheese-making process, with the orange-peel powder added to the milk. The white cheese was ripened for three-month period.

Smoothies. Two versions were created. One is a fruit smoothie combining banana, mango, strawberry, apple, carrot and orange, enriched with orange-peel powder. The other is an orange and apple smoothie enriched with pomegranate seed oil, which the team tested in different forms and amounts. Trained tasters guided the choice of the best recipes, aiming for a drink that is both nutritious and delicious.

Pomegranate jelly. A fruity jelly made with pomegranate extract, which is rich in natural antioxidants. Sweetened with carob syrup or honey instead of refined sugar and given a citrus aroma, it was designed as a more nutritious alternative to conventional sweets.

All the enriched products were carefully assessed for their safety, nutritional quality and taste, and compared with regular versions. The results are encouraging: the added ingredients boosted the products' functional value, kept their quality high and helped them stay fresh for longer.
 

Gentle technologies for a cleaner process

Getting valuable compounds out of peels and seeds is not simple. Traditional methods often use a lot of energy, and heat can damage the most delicate ingredients. EXCEL4MED tested three green alternatives that work without high temperatures:

• Pulsed Electric Field. Very short bursts of electricity open up the walls of plant cells so their contents can be released.
• Ultrasound. Sound waves too high for us to hear gently break open plant material and speed up the release of beneficial compounds.
• Hydrodynamic cavitation. Tiny bubbles form and collapse in flowing liquid, creating forces that free the compounds locked inside peels and seeds.

For the products, the compounds were extracted using ethanol, a consumer-friendly solvent, or water and the extracts were turned into a fine powder ready to use as a natural food ingredient.

Researchers tested the three technologies on different varieties of citrus and pomegranate, in the laboratory and at pilot scale. The results showed that these methods can improve the recovery of beneficial compounds while protecting their quality and using fewer resources than conventional approaches. Each technology also proved to have its own strengths, which opens the way to combining them in the future.
 

Honest about the road ahead

EXCEL4MED shows that a peel, a seed or a spoonful of pulp can become a creamy yoghurt, a slice of cheese, a glass of smoothie or a colourful jelly. The same approach can be applied to other crops, regions and food industries, offering a practical route to less waste and more nutritious food.

The team is also candid about what comes next. Results vary with the type and condition of the raw material, and moving from pilot to industrial scale will require further work on costs, equipment and a steady supply of by-products. These are exactly the questions that future projects and industry partners can now take forward, starting from solid results.
 

A team effort

EXCEL4MED brought together researchers, technical experts and food industry partners across borders. Their collaboration, together with Living Labs in Greece and Malta where farmers, processors and policymakers tested ideas against real-life needs, helped ensure the results are practical as well as scientific.