Valorization of Food By-Products into a Zero-Waste Broth: Effects of Yeast Extract on Composition and Sensory Properties.

Food losses and waste occur throughout the food production chain, creating an urgent need for their recovery and valorization into sustainable food products. Sensory acceptance is crucial for consumer interest and market success and can be enhanced using yeast extract. However, strategies that simultaneously valorize meat and vegetable by-products into nutritionally and functionally enriched products while ensuring sensory acceptability have been scarcely investigated. This study examined whether poultry carcasses after mechanical meat separation, combined with root vegetable processing residues, could be converted into a zero-waste broth with enhanced nutritional and bioactive-related properties. The developed broth was obtained by cooking for 3 h at 122 °C under 0.2 MPa, with 2% (v/v) yeast extract added to improve umami taste. The broth was analyzed for amino acids, protein and nucleoside content, turbidity, vitamins A, K, and B-group, and antioxidant activity. The yeast-extract-enriched broth showed high levels of these vitamins, supporting EU-compliant nutrition and health claims, and demonstrated strong antioxidant activity as measured by in vitro assays. Preliminary sensory testing indicated high acceptability of the broth, likely due to the addition of yeast extract. Overall, the study demonstrates that meat and vegetable by-products can be effectively valorized into a nutritionally enriched and compositionally promising product.