Project description
New method for obtaining functional keratin
Keratin is a fibrous structural protein found in vertebrates, which has been used extensively in the cosmetics industry. Most current methods of keratin isolation from agricultural waste are based on very aggressive thermal and chemical treatments. As a result, the protein obtained is mostly denatured and lacking properties that make it attractive for industrial applications. The EU-funded KERASOL project aims to provide a new solution by optimising the keratin production process in a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective way using as a source a residual waste of meat processing. The production process is based on an exclusive technology and the unique resulting product preserves all the functional properties of keratin.
Objective
Keratin as a key structural material has been used in cosmetics as a raw material in skin and hair care products in a generalized way since several years, marking a trend in all cosmetic manufacturers offering keratin treatment lines. The human body takes advantage of this cosmetic contribution of keratin through contact with products that Incorporate it, getting the protein to adhere to the damaged areas in order to regenerate the skin and hair. Now, although the exploitation of these keratin sources is a well-known industrial process, most of the methods of obtaining keratin from agricultural waste are based on very aggressive thermal or chemical treatments. As a result of the aggressiveness of these treatments, the protein obtained is much denatured and has lost most of the properties that make keratin a protein of industrial interest.
In this context with our project, we bring to the market a new solution, which will not only reduce the environmental impact of a waste produced in slaughterhouses, but optimize the keratin production process for cosmetics purposes too, in a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective way
Based on an exclusive patent whose rights we have acquired, we obtain a new keratin product as no one has yet achieved it. By its method of obtaining we have got a unique product in the world that preserves all the functional properties of keratin and therefore its bio availability for the human being. We obtain our product at a low cost thanks to the low energy needs in the production and to the raw material that we use at cost 0, the hair and the hooves of pigs, a residual waste of meat processing. Our processing plant will produce 1.500Kg/day of keratin KERASOL, a registered trademark of our property, which will make the difference in the cosmetic keratin market valued at €500M in 2017 an estimated to reach €600M by 2023. This will give us an annual net income of €5 million/year with a production of 386 tons/year for each plant installed.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processes
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
08500 VIC BARCELONA
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.