Project: Innovative Algal Biorefinery to contribute to novel Food sources, promoting health and environment preservation
| Acronym | InnovAlgaFood |
| Project Topic | The Mediterranean region is one of the areas in the world most exposed to the combined effects of urban growth and climate change. It is thus mandatory to promote sustainable and local food systems in the region. The Mediterranean Sea hosts an exceptional seaweed phylogenetic diversity, with various biomass compositions, giving them significant potential for the development of a seaweed cultivation and exploitation value chain. Many species of seaweeds are exploited as a source of polysaccharides for applications in the field of hydrocolloids or biological active ingredients. Apart from polysaccharides, different families of molecules (pigments, lipids, proteins, polyphenols) can be extracted and are of commercial interest, with a growing market. Especially with the increase in the world population suggesting a shortage of protein resources, the search for new sources has increased over the past four decades and seaweed proteins can be part of the solution. However, the processes for hydrocolloids extraction usually leads to destruction of other valuable compounds. In order to have a more sustainable use of the whole biomass, it is therefore necessary to develop integrated biorefinery schemes allowing to recover the different fractions. The InnovAlgaFood project aims at improving the seaweed food chain, by introducing a biorefinery concept allowing a more sustainable utilization of the biomass and reducing wastes. Seaweeds being marine organisms, their use as food source present the advantage not to require arable lands, as they can be directly harvested in their natural habitat or cultivated on mats in the sea. Improvement of the locally grown seaweed exploitation for food will provide access to high nutritional products with health benefits for the population. Implementation of the biorefinery approach will reduce wastes and global environmental impact, allowing sustainable production. The scientific objective of the InnovAlgaFood project is therefore to study seaweeds from the diversity of the Mediterranean coasts, to evaluate the seasonal variation in biomass composition, to implement eco-friendly processes and biorefinery scheme, and to evaluate their potential valorization in the food value chain as novel alga-based food or functional foods. |
| Network | PRIMA |
| Call | Section 2 – Multi-topic 2024 |