Obtaining food fibre
The GAIKER Technological Centre is one of the 14 associate members companies and research centres located in Spain, Poland, Germany and Denmark participating in the Profibre project, which falls within the framework of the European Union GROWTH programme. The aim of the project is to obtain, from sub-products of the production of potato starch, apple juice and bottled cardoon, of food fibres with a high percentage of soluble fibre and optimum functional properties, for their application as a food ingredient as well as animal food. The project arose out of the need to find new possibilities for the use of the residues generated during fruit and vegetable processing. The volume of residues generated in the vegetable industry is very high, reaching 50 % in the case of vegetable juice production. The characteristics of these residues are very varied, given their different origins, but they all have a high water and fibre content and low fat and protein content. They are, thus, a good source of food fibre. Concerns about leading a more healthy life has, in recent years, give rise to a significant increase in health food products, particularly in food fibre sector of the market. This is why being able to reuse sub-products, apart from reducing the total load of solids thrown away, would provide a new commercial opportunity for producers.
Countries
Germany, Denmark, Spain, Poland