The four-year project aims to promote the efficient utilisation of these biomass side streams through the up-concentration of nutrients and functional compounds while, at the same time reducing, waste. Through lab and clinical testing, the ingredients will be assessed for applications in sports nutrition, mental health and physical well-being. AQUABIOPRO-FIT will address the challenges associated with taste, bioactivity, safety and consumer acceptance, to ensure that the products are of high quality and can be effectively brought to the market.
AQUABIOPRO-FIT focuses on 6 types of ingredients that can be isolated from the side streams for applications in food, feed, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals:
- marine protein concentrates,
- ω-3 rich phospholipids and oils,
- bioactives (proteins, oligopeptides, amines, nucleotides and pigments),
- collagen,
- minerals and
- tunicate meal fractions (protein rich and cellulose).
A range of processing techniques - hydrolysis/bead milling, extraction, separation/fractionation, stabilization, biofiltration/biotransformation - will be used to isolate and purify these ingredients.
The resultant high purity products will be used to conduct application testing, sensory evaluation and nutrition studies with human participants, to evaluate their efficacy and commercial potential. While the AQUABIOPRO-FIT project aims to successfully develop new value chains from aquaculture, fisheries and agriculture industries side streams, it also has a broader objective of identifying possible processing routes for the isolation of valuable ingredients from a range of feedstocks.
Project information:
- Website: www.aquabioprofit.eu
- Coordinated by: NOFIMA
- Project coordinator: Katerina Kousoulaki
- Duration: 1 April 2018 - 31 March 2022
- Funding program: European Union’s Horizon 2020
- Grant agreement no.: 790956