One of the successful strategies for the improvement of the sustainable food chain is to achieve economic success while improving environmental performance. For this point of view, water-soluble polysaccharides (WSP) were extracted from some agricultural by-products (potato peel (PoP), pea peel (PeP) and taro peel (TP) as Egyptian agro-waste products). Furthermore: Physicochemical parameters, structural, antioxidant and functional properties of the extracted polysaccharides were investigated via High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Scanning Election Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) as well as DPPH radical and ABTS radical assays. The most predominant sugar(s) content in PoP were glucose and stachyose (50.12 and 20.68 g/100 g), in PeP was sucrose (34.34 g/100 g) and in TP were stachyose and glucose (47A, 35.73 g/100 g). MR analysis confirmed the presence of different polysaccharides functional groups (OH, CH, CH2 and CH3). On the other hand, the extracted (water-soluble) polysaccharides exhibited high thermal stability (up to 220 degrees C) that makes them applicable in high-temperature food processing. PoP and PeP showed good water holding capacities (4 g water/g sample each) and PeP showed higher emulsifying capacity and stability (41.88%, 37.23%). Furthermore, PoP, PeP and TP polysaccharides exhibited noticeable antioxidant potentials as indicated by IC50 values (1.91, 3.96 and 8.41 mg/mL). Overall, the findings in the present study indicated that PoP, PeP and 7P from waste products might be considered as promising sources for natural functional additives for different types of foods. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.