Two market studies and a field market survey were performed to identify relevant market trends. This led to the identification of the major product specifications in the field of cosmetics, food, nutraceuticals and fragrances. With all this information, the initial roadmap of the project was drawn, with main strains, products of interest and target markets defined.
>150 candidate micro-algae/cyanobacteria species were included into the screening process at lab scale. A suite of standard methods, for algal cultivation, biochemical analysis and genetical engineering was developed and applied. The main technical outputs are the completion of the screening of strains and the construction and validation of GM-cyanobacteria with induced capacity to produce light terpenes with long-term phylogenetic stability.
Pilot-scale cultivation of 7 algae strains was performed, focussing on scale-up of cultures, light & media optimization, water treatment and recycling, and PBR improvements in order to reduce maintenance and operational costs. +50% productivities in both biomass and target coumpounds were obtained for several of the studied production scenarios. New tools (probes and sensors) for process monitoring and automation were developed, and some of them were included in a commercial demonstrator consisting of 16x28L FPA PBRs.
The 5 most promising scenarii for large-scale cultivation were defined between the several partners operating industrial PBRs, and industrial scale trials were performed. Altogether, the large scale cultures delivered more than 200kgs of tailored biomass for downstream processing activities.
Green extraction and fractionation/purification procedures employing innovative compressed fluids were developed. Fractionation of wet biomass (no drying) was applied to increase yields and purities. An integrated processes with multiple product outputs was considered and the fractions/extracts produced characterized. Moreover, a one-step one-pot extraction-purification procedure with PLE was developed to produce directly pure carotenoid extract from a given algal biomass.
Applicability activities defined the main compounds to quantify in algae main extracts and physico-chemical features to analyze in the by-products. Formulation and preservation strategies for active extracts to be used in cosmetic were elaborated and tested experimentally.
An LCA model including all process steps and based on secondary data extracted from literature was implemented as well as the collection of real lab- & industrial-scale data related to the extraction processes.
Proactive involvement of all project partners in 51 conferences & workshops, 3 business fairs and 5 BBI brokerage events increased the outreach of the project. An international workshop with >100 participants was organized, and 2 promotional videos were achieved and disseminated on public social media. So far, results of the project delivered 13 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 2 book chapters and 13 publications in conference proceedings.
