Descripción del proyecto
Las algas como fuente alternativa natural de proteínas
A medida que aumenta la demanda de proteínas tanto para la alimentación humana como para la animal, la Unión Europea (UE) debe importar 30 millones de toneladas de soja cada año. Esto hace que la UE dependa de la soja importada. Esta fuente de proteínas se está volviendo insostenible desde el punto de vista económico y ambiental para Europa, lo que da lugar a preocupaciones sobre el futuro de la seguridad alimentaria. Por consiguiente, existe una creciente demanda de proteínas alternativas naturales de bajo coste. En el proyecto ALEHOOP, financiado con fondos europeos, se demostrará a nivel experimental la sostenibilidad de las biorrefinerías basadas en macroalgas y legumbres, con el objetivo de extraer proteínas alimentarias como proteínas alternativas naturales de la biomasa residual de algas y plantas para la alimentación del ganado. El objetivo del proyecto es contribuir a reducir la dependencia de la UE de las proteínas importadas y mejorar la seguridad de las materias primas.
Objetivo
ALEHOOP provides the demonstration at pilot scale of both sustainable macroalgae and legume-based biorefineries for the recovery of low-cost dietary proteins from alga-based and plant residual biomass and their validation to meet market requirements of consumers and industry in the food and feed sectors. In these sectors, consumers are demanding affordable functional natural proteins from alternative sources and industry is demanding low-cost bio-based protein formulations with better performance and higher sustainability.
Current protein demand for the 7.3 billion inhabitants of the world is approximately 202 Mt. Due to the rise in meat consumption more proteins are therefore required for animal feeding. To satisfy the current protein demand, Europe imports over 30 Mt of soy from the Americas each year mainly for animal feeding, entailing 95% dependency of EU on imported soy. Current sources of proteins are becoming unsustainable from an economic and environmental perspective for Europe resulting in concerns for sustainability and food security and leading to search for new alternative proteins.
ALEHOOP addresses the obtaining of proteins from green macroalgal blooms, brown seaweed by-products from algae processors and legume processing by-products (peas, lupines, beans and lentils) as alternative protein sources for animal feeding (case of green seaweed) and food applications (case of brown seaweed and legume by-products), since they are low cost and under-exploited biomass that do not compete with traditional food crops for space and resources. This will reduce EU´s dependency on protein imports and contribute to our raw material security. The new proteins will be validated in foods for elderly, sporty and overweight people, vegetarians and healthy consumers as well as for animal feed creating cross-sectorial interconnection between these value chains and supporting the projected business plan.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseedslegumes
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed
Palabras clave
Programa(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.2.1.4. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology
- H2020-EU.3.2.6. - Bio-based Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBI-JTI)
Tema(s)
Régimen de financiación
IA - Innovation actionCoordinador
28021 Madrid
España
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.