Project description
Engineered microalgae to produce bio-based products
Astaxanthin is a natural carotenoid pigment found in sea microalgae, salmon, and trout. It is believed to have antioxidant and antihypertension properties but is mainly used in animal feed for pigmentation. Currently, astaxanthin is mainly generated by chemical synthesis as the cost for its extraction and production from natural sources is high. Funded by the European Innovation Council, the ASTEASIER project aims to develop novel methods to produce and extract astaxanthin from microalgae. The idea is to establish a sustainable industrial platform based on engineered microalgae for producing high-value bio-based products such as astaxanthin and omega-3 for human and animal nutrition.
Objective
Microalgae are photosynthetic unicellular microorganisms which can be cultivated at industrial level and adopted as sustainable platforms to produce high value biobased products. Astaxanthin and omega-3 fatty acids are examples of high value metabolites which can be produced by microalgae and that are relevant for both human and animal nutrition. Astaxanthin is widely used in animal feed for its pigmentation properties, but it’s also used in nutraceutics, being among the strongest antioxidants found in nature. Despite the high potential of microalgae, nowadays astaxanthin is mainly derived from chemical synthesis, due to the high costs for natural astaxanthin production and extraction, with selling price in the market reaching several thousands of €/kg. However, synthetic astaxanthin has a far less antioxidant power compared to natural one and its production processes present several sustainability issues.
The ASTEASIER project starts from the results of ERC PoC project Asteasy, where novel biotechnological solutions to efficiently produce natural astaxanthin were developed, reducing the production costs compared to the state-of-the-art processes. Moreover, the ASTEASIER solution allows an easy extraction of astaxanthin in a wide range of bland solvents, and the simultaneous production of both astaxanthin and omega-3, required for fish feed formulation, were developed. Here these innovations will be validated in demonstrator units and tested for aquaculture feed formulation. ASTEASIER proposal is thus focused on the development and validation of these novel methods to produce and extract astaxanthin from microalgae and aims, in line with the EIC Transition work Pogramme, to take the technologies to TRL6 and to spin-off a company who will become leader in engineering microalgae to produce and sell natural products such as astaxanthin for human and animal nutrition and wellness
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2022-TRANSITION-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
37129 Verona
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.