Bioactive phytochemicals from tiger nut oil processing by-products

Abstract

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentis), also known as “chufa,” is a notable plant mainly grown in African or Middle Eastern countries. The significance of the tiger nut rises from its high contents of lipids, fiber, protein, and carbohydrates. The tiger nut contains comparable amounts of monounsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid. The oil is mainly extracted using the conventional mechanical pressing method, which generates valuable byproducts rich in many functional components, including tocopherols, phenolic compounds, and sterols. Related to many proven positive health effects of these functional components, the re-utilization of tiger nut byproducts in either food or non-food applications has gained an increasing interest. After the oil extraction from the tiger nuts, the defatted nuts may be utilized as flour to improve many food products. Also, the byproducts can be utilized in biogas production. This chapter introduces an overview of the tiger nut and discusses the utilization of byproducts from tiger nut processing