The industrial manufacturing of fruits and vegetables generates approximately 50% by-product waste, causing a negative environmental impact and significant expenses. Nevertheless, fruit and vegetable by-products (FVB) are rich nutrients and extranutritional compounds that contribute to bowel health, weight management, lower blood cholesterol levels and improved control of glycemic and insulin responses. Due to the positive influence of FVB fibers and bioactive compounds during the digestion of glycemic carbohydrates, such as starch, baked goods are ideal food systems to accommodate FVB, since most of them have a high glycemic index. Therefore, this is an area of recent interest with critical environmental, economic and health implications worldwide. However, the utilization of FVB in baked goods leads to the loss of acceptability, in many cases caused by a lack of understanding of the physical structure and composition of FVB and their effects on food quality. The objective of this review is to provide a mechanistic understanding of the impact of the physical structure and composition of FVB on common baked goods and their influence on the nutritional and physical quality of the resulting product. This review will support the use of FVB as ideal ingredients while improving the added value of waste streams.
