8 – Patent Survey

Agro-industrial waste derived from fruit and vegetable processing presents a cheap source of phytochemicals and other valuable ingredients that have the potential to be reutilized. Winemaking has been one of the most important industries of many countries, with the trend of popularization. Grapes are known to be rich in polyphenols, which are not fully extracted/transferred to wine. This fact makes grape processing by-products an interesting source for further exploitation. Since polyphenols have been documented to have various beneficial health effects, grape by-products have the potential to be used in different applications, such as in functional food, dietary supplements, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Beside polyphenols, other potentially valuable ingredients of grape processing by-products include fatty acids, tocopherols, dietary fiber, proteins and tartarates. In order to commercialize the recovery of these beneficial ingredients from grape by-products, intellectual property rights of processes and ideas must be protected through patenting. The aim of this chapter is to present a survey of patent describing recovery process and applications, as well as health benefits claimed for grape by-products and to discuss the future perspectives.