Description du projet
Produire des compléments à base de microalgues à un prix abordable
Les acides gras oméga-3 et les antioxydants tels que l’astaxanthine constituent un complément précieux à l’alimentation humaine, et offrent des avantages potentiels, notamment pour la santé cardiovasculaire, visuelle et cognitive. Ils sont toutefois produits à partir de différents poissons ou microalgues marines au moyen d’un processus coûteux et nuisible à l’environnement. Financé par le Conseil européen de la recherche, le projet ASTAOMEGA entend développer un système innovant de production de ces composants à partir de l’espèce de microalgue marine à croissance rapide appelée Nannochloropsis gaditana. Le système proposé sera peu coûteux et offrira une productivité élevée sans impact sur l’environnement. En outre, il devrait avoir un impact positif sur l’industrie des microalgues et le marché des produits nutraceutiques en Europe.
Objectif
This project aims at developing an innovative and commercially competitive production platform for high value products as Astaxanthin and Omega-3, to be used for human nutrition or aquaculture.
Astaxanthin is a pigment primary produced by microalgae: this carotenoid has a strong antioxidant power and it is used in different fields as healthcare, food/feed supplementation and as pigmenting agent in aquaculture. However, cultivation of the main microalgae species producing Astaxanthin is costly due to low biomass productivity or low Astaxanthin content, causing an extremely high price of this molecule on the market.
Marine microalgae are also the primary producers of Omega-3, very long chain fatty acids, essential components of high quality diets for humans, being related to cardiovascular wellness, and proper visual and cognitive development. However, due to the high cost of microalgae cultivation, the market of Omega-3 is mostly based on fish or krill oils, with high costs and environment impacts associated.
New sources of Astaxanthin and Omega-3 must thus be implemented: based on the results obtained in ERC-Stg-SOLENALGAE, an innovative, low cost and high productive strategy can be proposed for simultaneous Astaxanthin and Omega-3 production in the robust and fast growing marine microalgae species Nannochloropsis gaditana.
The main objectives of the ASTAOMEGA project will be:
1. To validate to a demonstration stage the ASTAOMEGA system
2. The assessment of the market size and market requirements, through extensive market analysis
3. The identification of the best suitable commercial route to be undertaken to take the ASTAOMEGA system to the market, as inception of a spin-off company and/or the licensing agreements on the IPR exploitation with the interested end-users (see LOIs).
The ASTAOMEGA team is confident that the outcomes of this project are poised to exert a beneficial impact on the European microalgae industry and nutraceuticals market
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmarine biology
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheries
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitution d’accueil
37129 Verona
Italie