Objective From the 391,000 known species, 18,000 have documented medicinal effect and only 150 are industrially cultivated. Their active principles are extracted from wild or cultivated plants, but the production of these compounds is not sufficient to meet the growing market demand. New sustainable production methods include in-vitro cultivation in bioreactors. However, the main limiting factor is the plant biomass growth rate (e.g. state of the art bubble column bioreactors only reach a doubling time of 20-30 days for ginseng roots). Existing bioreactors are therefore unable to produce at an economically viable level sufficient amounts of biomass and active molecules except for rare applications with very high added value (e.g. pharmaceuticals). The project develops a novel bioreactor technology enabling a 2x faster biomass growth and a 2-3x boost in active compound elicitation level. Root bioreactors have been so far designed by pharmaceutical engineers without cost considerations as they target high value application. Our team, coming from a food biotech background, has been able to design low-cost bioreactors compatible with high-volume production where costs can be divided by a factor of 10 to target lower value applications such as nutraceuticals. The project initially focuses on the development of a 30 ton/year pilot plant for ginseng roots, a market of 25,000 ton/year currently dominated by US and Asian producers. In addition, the technology has been validated for 29 other root varieties and has the potential to support in-vitro cultivation of any plant root, covering numerous applications in nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, fragrances, pest-control, phyto-protection and food additives, among others. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationbioreactorsmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemssocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economyagricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass Programme(s) 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.3.2.4. - Sustainable and competitive bio-based industries and supporting the development of a European bioeconomy H2020-EU.3.2.1. - Sustainable agriculture and forestry H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument H2020-EU.3.2.2. - Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet Topic(s) SMEInst-07-2016-2017 - Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors Call for proposal H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017 Funding Scheme SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1 Coordinator BOTALYS Net EU contribution € 50 000,00 Address QUAI DES USINES 8 7800 ATH Belgium See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Région wallonne Prov. Hainaut Arr. Ath Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 71 429,00
