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Valorisation of the carob pod into an added value natural extract for the food and drink industry

Objective

Beet and cane sugar’s reputation is plummeting among EU28 citizens. Consequently, the Food&Drink industry is seeking for alternative sweeteners to enhance their products’ palatability while meeting consumers’ demands of healthier and natural products. In this context, fruit concentrates arise as a reliable sugar substitute since they are a natural sweetener perceived as healthier. This segment is expected to grow globally at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 5.5% to reach an estimated global value of around 38,500 M€ by 2022 .
Encouraged by this situation, in GMFortún we have developed a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly process to obtain from the carob pod a bioactive natural sweetener suited for the Food & Drink and Nutraceutical industry. It consists on a syrup with a balanced proportion of carbohydrates, PINITOL (a bioactive compound), minerals (very rich in Potassium) and refined polyphenols. This unique composition makes it nutritionally healthier than other sweeteners and a perfect sugar substitute, especially in the juice industry.
We have received the interest from key companies from the Food&Drink and Nutraceutical sector that have encourage us to develop this new product since it fits their technical and commercial needs.
Besides its market potential, CERATONIA+ will bring important environmental benefits. The carob pod (our raw material) is a by-product of the carob tree’s fruit. The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a Mediterranean crop acknowledged by its environmental benefits: it can recover eroded soil, survive to heavy droughts and wildfires, improve soils’ fertility by fixing nitrogen and fix 3 times more CO2 than other woody crops with 2.5 times less water. Thanks to our product, we will promote the growing of 5,500ha. of carob trees, that will fix 114,876tn. of CO2/year.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017

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Coordinator

GREGORIO MARTINEZ FORTUN SL
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.

€ 50 000,00
Address
CALLE MARCONA 7 POLIGONO INDUSTRIAL LA PALMA
30593 CARTAGENA MURCIA
Spain

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Sur Región de Murcia Murcia
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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.

€ 71 429,00
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