Root Hydraulic and Metabolomic Recovery Outpaces Stomatal Reopening in Rewatered Quinoa.

The global livestock sector is being reshaped by three converging pressures. First, demand for animal-source food is projected to rise by nearly 70% by 2050 []. Second, climate change is amplifying heat stress in production environments. Third, regulatory commitments to circular resource use are being tightened under the European Green Deal and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 on food loss and waste [,,]. Against this background, agro-industrial by-products have become increasingly central to sustainable feed formulation. The European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC) has reported that practically none of the raw materials used in EU compound-feed production are of food-grade quality. Taken together, these observations indicate that circular feeding is no longer a marginal practice but has become the dominant operational paradigm of the sector []. The projected increase in demand warrants some caution, however, since the expanding market for plant-based and cultivated-meat products, together with the growth of vegetarian dietary patterns, may moderate the rate of increase even where aggregate demand continues to rise. Tomato ( L.) is the second-most cultivated vegetable worldwide, and a substantial share of the crop is industrially processed into paste, juice, and related products [,,]. Processing yields a solid residue, commonly termed tomato pomace, which comprises peel, seeds, and residual pulp in proportions varying by cultivar, processing technology, and ripeness, and which represents 3–5% by weight of the raw fruit []. Historically, tomato pomace has been treated as a low-value disposal stream, frequently sent to landfills or, where better managed, used as a non-formulated feed or compost substrate. This reflects a paradigm of waste rather than co-product. Yet the residual matrix retains a high concentration of bioactive molecules: lycopene concentrations of 36.7–50.2 mg/100 g dry matter [], total polyphenol content averaging 161.8 mg GAE/g, total flavonoid content of 30.6–378.7 mg quercetin equivalents/g, and DPPH radical-scavenging activities of 29.9–75.0% []. The seed fraction contributes high-quality oil (mainly linoleic and oleic acids) and a protein concentrate rich in essential amino acids [,]. The peel fraction concentrates approximately five-fold more lycopene than the pulp [] and harbours a cutin-rich cuticle (40–85% / cutin []) that now attracts attention as a bio-polyester precursor [,].