Coffee grounds improve the nutritional quality of cucumbers, according to a study

A study by the University of Granada has demonstrated that coffee grounds, after a chemical treatment, can be used to biofortify cucumbers with essential minerals and reduce the accumulation of toxic heavy metals. The study, published in the journal 'Chemosphere', confirms that the consumption of these cucumbers poses no health risks and opens new avenues for the circular economy in intensive agriculture, reports the University of Granada. Researchers have developed a method that allows coffee grounds (a waste product that generates between six and eight million tons annually worldwide) to be converted into effective and safe fertilizers. Through chemical processes such as activation with sodium hydroxide or hydrothermal carbonization, the grounds are transformed into biochelators (natural organic compounds that envelop and protect metal ions), enriched with iron and zinc, essential for the human diet. During the study, these bioproducts were applied to Dutch cucumber crops in ...