Project description DEENESFRITPL Growing microalgal sources of fucoxanthin Some seaweed is very good for your health. Fucoxanthin, for instance, is a natural substance sourced from brown seaweed. This golden-brown carotenoid pigment can break down white fat in the body, kill cancerous cells, and help fight Type II diabetes. Harvesting fucoxanthin from brown seaweeds is not sustainable as this seasonal crop has an expensive and time-consuming extraction process. The EU-funded AlgaHealth project has isolated, developed and cultivated new and proprietary microalgae strains of Isochrysis species. Novel agro-physiological manipulations helped make them grow faster and produce more fucoxanthin. With its innovative method for growing microalgae inland and novel microalgal strains, AlgaHealth will produce commercial levels of fucoxanthin with premium quality. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Obesity, diabetes and other metabolic syndromes affect an increasing proportion of the population and pose significant economic burden to healthcare systems. To prevent and treat lifestyle-related diseases, it is not sufficient to use an exclusively pharmacological treatment. Nutrition also plays a critical role. Therefore, researchers began to find safe and effective functional ingredients in food to prevent and treat such diseases. One of these functional ingredients is fucoxanthin - a golden-brown carotenoid found in macro and microalgae.The common method to harvest fucoxanthin is from macroalgae (brown seaweeds), but it is not an acceptable alternative because it is seasonal, not sustainable and allows to the extraction of very low quantities of fucoxanthin. The only alternative for a more efficient and sustainable production of fucoxanthin are microalgae. However, existing production techniques of microalgae require high investment and large energy input, preventing large scale and sustainable production. At AlgaHealth we isolated, developed and cultivated new and proprietary microalgae strains of Isochrysis species and novel agro-physiological manipulations to make them grow faster and produce more fucoxanthin. These novel technologies constitute a proven and efficient platform for industrial scale production of high quality fucoxanthin-based oleoresin, at lower energy and environmental-friendly production costs.AlgaHealth is an Israeli biotech company founded in 2017 and stemming from its co-founders’ 20-year experience in microalgae and carotenoids industries. The proposed work in Phase 1 of the SME instrument fits into our overall plan to reach the market by contributing the financial resources needed to plan a fast sound wider deployment of AlgaHealth products and their market uptake. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecyclingnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyphycologysocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness modelsnatural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcoholssocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy Programme(s) H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs Main Programme H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies Topic(s) EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 - SME instrument Call for proposal H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1 Funding Scheme SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1 Coordinator ALGAHEALTH (AH) Ltd Net EU contribution € 50 000,00 Address T’CHELET ST. 17 Misgav Israel See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes 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
