Agriloop has achieved substantial progress beyond the state of the art in multiple domains: i) Integrated Design of Conversion Technologies. For the first time, technical, environmental, safety, and socio-economic criteria were incorporated into the early design stages of conversion technologies and product development. New modeling and AI tools were developed to capture and analyze stakeholder preferences, link agri-residues to profit estimates for derived products, address limitations in conventional LCA by integrating consequential and prospective approaches that dynamically evaluate both foreground and background systems, and early estimate / optimize feedstock-to-product pathways. This will allow to effectively balance economic and sustainability criteria. Furthermore, persistent contaminants in agri-residues, including mycotoxins, pesticides, and microplastics, were identified, with pioneering studies on their interactions and decontamination throughout the cascading processes. ii) Native Biomolecule Recovery. Significant advancements were made in biomolecule extraction, with proteins successfully isolated from unconventional residues, such as tomato and brewer’s spent grain, via enzymatic extraction. Environmentally friendly solvents, including ionic liquids and natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES), enabled the extraction of cutin in its polymeric form (without structural modification) and simultaneous extraction of polyphenols and carotenoids. NADES-based extraction is, for the first time, being developed to extract cutin and polyphenols concurrently. iii) Enhanced Bioconversion Processes. Tailored bioconversion techniques were introduced, where biomass pretreatment using innovative methods, such as fungal hydrolysis, thermophilic mixed-culture fermentation, and supercritical CO2, resulted in doubled yields of carboxylic acids compared to conventional methods. These acids were utilized by select microorganisms to produce both microbial proteins and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and PHA production was achieved in continuous processes with mixed microbial cultures. iv) Developing new biobased materials and up-scaling technologies in a frugal design approach. For the first time, agri-residues were transformed into biomaterials adhering to a frugal design philosophy and tailored to meet farmers’ specific needs. Based on the project’s advancements, PHA and cutin production were successfully scaled up, resulting in a preliminary portfolio of biomaterials developed from these polymers. v) Strong interactions between Europe and China. A common strategy for data management and dissemination has been set up, by taking care in strongly involving the stakeholders.
