Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Eco-innovative technologies for sustainable exploitation of macromolecules from insects as alternative resource in bioeconomy

Project description

High protein critters for sustainable bioeconomy

Bugs are an important source of proteins. Edible insects are already on the menu in parts of Africa, Asia and Central and South America – not only as an emergency resource, but as a tasty snack. To date, as many as 1 500 edible insects’ species in more than 100 countries have been recorded. The EU-funded inTECH project will improve processing and extraction technologies for the sustainable exploitation of macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids) from insects. The project is developing the first technological toolbox of pre-treatment, extraction, processing and drying techniques for house crickets, which have one of the highest protein contents among edible insects. It will also adopt a zero-waste process, contributing towards a sustainable bioeconomy.

Objective

The overall aim of the inTECH project is to develop eco-innovative technological solutions for sustainable exploitation of insects into key macromolecules. The inTECH is built on the applicant’s existing technical and research competencies in the area of novel processing and extraction technologies thus enabling her to transfer these skills to develop and optimise eco-innovative technologies for sustainable exploitation of insect fractions including proteins, lipids and chitin for potential food applications. Insect derived proteins are of interest as a sustainable substitute for conventional sources of proteins commonly employed for food and feed applications. Currently, employed extraction techniques are not environmental friendly and mainly rely on the use of solvents. The inTECH project will investigate and develop key eco-innovative processing/extraction technologies platform that have a proven track record in their ability to enhance extraction yields and that are also environment friendly. The innovative aspect of inTECH project will be to develop first-of-a-kind technological toolbox of pretreatment, extraction, processing and drying techniques suitable for house crickets while adopting a zero-waste process for holistic utilisation of all insect fractions. It is expected that the inTECH project will address EU’s challenge of protein deficits and contribute towards sustainable bioeconomy.

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

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.

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.

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.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR AGRARTECHNIK UND BIOOKONOMIE EV
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 162 806,40
Address
MAX EYTH ALLEE 100
14469 POTSDAM
Germany

See on map

Region
Brandenburg Brandenburg Potsdam
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 162 806,40
My booklet 0 0