Agricultural waste peels have been recognized as an ecological burden for the society. However, waste peels, as lignocellulosic biomass-rich materials, have stimulated new gateways for the production of renewable, low cost and sustainable adsorbents for water treatment applications. This review compiles the work conducted by various researchers over the last few decades on the use of various agricultural waste peels as adsorbents for the water and wastewater treatment. In this review, adsorption capacities for organic and inorganic pollutants by different peel-based adsorbents are summarized. Wherever applicable, different modification methods, which have been employed to develop modified peel-based adsorbents, have also been presented to highlight and discuss the key advancements on the preparation of novel adsorbents using agricultural waste peels. Adsorption mechanisms responsible for pollutants removal by peel-based adsorbents have also been discussed. Finally, conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed. The paper also discusses the future research needs in the area of biosorbent development utilizing agricultural waste peels for application in water treatment. (C) 2015 Elsevier BAT. All rights reserved.