Descrizione del progetto
Bioraffinerie intelligenti per composti bioattivi ad alto valore
La biomassa residua generata in Europa viene impiegata per la produzione di compost e di alimenti per animali, oppure viene smaltita in sicurezza. Tale biomassa è ricca di vari composti bioattivi, benefici per la salute e il benessere umano, ma la mancanza di tecnologie per la loro estrazione e preservazione impedisce l’uso della biomassa in applicazioni ad alto valore. I polifenoli, ad esempio, non sono sfruttati adeguatamente. Il progetto PHENOLEXA, finanziato dall’UE, svilupperà una bioraffineria intelligente a cascata per ricavare composti bioattivi ad alto valore e sbloccare il potenziale dei flussi ricchi di polifenoli provenienti dal settore agricolo (residui di olive, parti aeree e foglie delle viti, cicoria e cipolle). Il progetto coniuga la pre-trasformazione della biomassa con una tecnologia ecocompatibile di estrazione dei solventi ecologici. PHENOLEXA dimostrerà tale tecnologia e convaliderà la fattibilità tecnica-economica e la sostenibilità ambientale della bioraffineria.
Obiettivo
According to Eurostat, the agricultural sector is by far the biggest producer of the residual biomass in Europe, annually generating ca. 400 million tonnes (Mt) of dry agricultural waste. This residual biomass is usually either utilized for low value applications (compost or animal feed) or have to be deactivated to be safely disposed. On the other side, this residual biomass is highly rich in various bioactive compounds (oils, fatty acids, polyphenols, proteins) which could be used to improve the human health and wellbeing but usually lost for high-value applications due to the lack of comprehensive technology to effectively extract and preserve the bioactives. Among the natural bio-based compounds, polyphenols is the biggest class of bioactives with a range of beneficial properties for human health which have not be utilized for their full potential. PHENOLEXA project proposes to unlock the potential of polyphenols-rich agri-side streams (olive, grape shoots and leaves, chicory and onion residues) to procure bioactive compounds of high value via the development of cascade smart biorefinery which combines pretreatment of the biomass with benign environmentally friendly green solvents extraction technology. PHENOLEXA will focus on the processing of several types of agri and biowaste to create a pool of new functional polyphenolic bioactives with the tuned functionality (anticancer, antiviral, anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory) whereas the remaining fibres and colorants will be utilised in functional foods. PHENOLEXA will demonstrate the technology of the bioactive ingredients procurement at TRL4/5 and will create lab scale prototypes of cosmetic, nutraceutical, pharma and functional food products with their proved efficacy by the end of the project. PHENOLEXA will also validate the techno-economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of the proposed biorefinery.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcolors
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- engineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationcompost
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme
- H2020-EU.2.1.4. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology
- H2020-EU.3.2.6. - Bio-based Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBI-JTI)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
51010 Tartu
Estonia
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.