Project description
Reduce waist size with microalgae
Worldwide, obesity has nearly tripled in the last 30 years. In Europe, weight problems and obesity are increasing at a rapid rate, with over half of the EU’s population overweight. The EU-funded FUCOPRO project may have found a solution to the epidemic of obesity. It aims to increase commercial production of fucoxanthin – a natural antioxidant with unique qualities to modulate specific gene and protein expression, which in turn can prevent fat accumulation. The project will work towards ensuring commercial fucoxanthin production from the microalgae Isochrysis galbana. This production method has high concentration of fucoxanthin, is sustainable, cost effective and easily scalable to meet increasing market needs.
Objective
Obesity has already reached epidemic proportions. In 2016 more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight, thereof 650 million obese. In Europe alone weight problems and obesity are increasing at a rapid rate with over 50% of EU's population overweight in 2014. Alone, adult obesity takes up roughly 7% of national healthcare expenditure of individual countries and is estimated to cost the EU 70 billion euros annually through healthcare costs and lost productivity. Current solutions are not working. This is where Algalif's revolutionary solution - a commercial fucoxanthin production from the microalgae Isochrysis galbana - comes into play. Through current product of astaxanthin, Algalíf Iceland has developed a niche in the global microalgae arena in optimizing cultivation parameters. The in-house designed photo-bio-reactor (PBR) cultivation system, with full contamination control and no supply disruptions, ensures optimal growth of the microalgae. Currently, it delivers the highest industry reported yield of a pure product (7%). This sustainable production method will be adapted to the production of fucoxanthin - a natural antioxidant with unique qualities to modulate specific gene and protein expression which in turn can prevent fat accumulation. The unique qualities of the compound are known but current methods of harvesting fucoxanthin from brown seaweed (macroalgae) hinder market growth due to; 1) concentration of fucoxanthin is significantly lower than in microalgae; 2) harvesting is time-consuming and seasonal; 3) seaweed is foodstuff in many parts of the world; 4) it is not sustainable due to climate change. Algalíf's production has high concentration of fucoxanthin, it is sustainable, cost-effective and easily scalable to meet increasing market needs. If successfully brought to market, it will be the first commercially available fucoxanthin product from Isochrysis microalgae.
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.
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies food technology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- social sciences economics and business economics sustainable economy
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition obesity
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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.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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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.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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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) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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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.
262 Reykjanesbaer
Iceland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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.