Life cycle assessment of spray-drying encapsulation of crude peptides produced from defective green coffee beans

The use of agricultural waste for the production of value-added ingredients was investigated. Defective green coffee beans were utilized as alternative feedstocks for the production of peptides. The crude peptides were produced by enzymatic hydrolysis, followed by membrane filtration and centrifugation. Subsequently, hydrolysate peptides were encapsulated via spray drying with maltodextrin as the carrier, facilitating their use as a functional ingredient in food supplements. This study aimed to produce hydrolysate peptides from defatted defective green coffee beans by supercritical carbon dioxide with ethanol as a cosolvent. Additionally, their environmental impacts (gate to gate) were evaluated and analyzed using the life cycle assessment approach. Data obtained from pilot-scale production of 10 L of oil extract and 50 L of peptide extract were used to examine the environmental consequences of the various treatments. Two scenarios of downstream processing were examined for equivalent antioxidant activity: spray-drying without maltodextrin (Scenario 1) and spray-drying with maltodextrin encapsulation (Scenario 2). Scenario 2 consumed less electricity than Scenario 1 due to its shorter operating time and lower environmental impact compared to Scenario 1. Additionally, its encapsulated form is suitable for antioxidant retention and the storage of functional ingredients. The greatest environmental impact arose from supercritical carbon dioxide with ethanol extraction, which affected 8 out of 15 midpoint categories, followed by spray dry encapsulation, which affected 7 out of 15 midpoint categories. Solutions for improvement, such as carbon dioxide and/or ethanol recycling, and alternative heat and electricity sources are also discussed.