The residual biomass generated during food production or after consumption is a valuable source of compounds of interest, such as proteins – primary and essential constituents of all living things. It is of great interest to find new sources of proteins, but more than that, to study sustainable ways for obtaining them in order to avoid socio-environmental impacts. This article presents a brief overview about protein extraction studies and their respective methods, while drawing attention for Latin America production. The objective was to investigate recently published works (2016- early 2022), analyzing the extraction procedures adopted, the plant sources and highlight green protocols and potential waste resources. High volume waste streams from plant processing industries were identified as potential feedstocks for the extraction of proteins as a way to produce sustainable food protein products and other applications.