Protein and biomolecules sources for nutritional security and biodiversity
of bakery products in a circular food system
The project
The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. As a result, food intake is increasing worldwide and traditional harvesting methods are suffering from depletion of natural available resources. Along with the increasing food request, food production is affected by significant rates of food losses that represent useless resource consumption and contribute significantly to waste generation.
Therefore, sustainable agriculture will have to ensure higher, more stable and more eco-efficient production, more nutritious food and better quality final products using less land, fewer chemicals and other inputs. The implementation of resource-efficient circular economy principles across the whole food system can contribute to reduce its environmental footprint and minimise food losses and waste.
PROVIDE focuses on valorization of food transformation industry by-products for use in bakery production. This will be based on “green” innovation processes, which will use also material from organic products and the resulting new products can be marketed as “organic”.
With the aim to promote circularity in the agrifood systems, four specific objectives have been identified:
- identify by-products rich in nutrients and bioactives,
- valorise wastes and by-products,
- promote circular Food Systems,
- define strategies to put the new products into the market.
After having mapped sources of proteins and bioactive compounds from agrifood processes by-products, byproducts from different food production chains (e.g.: dairy, oilseeds, brewery, meat, prickly pear cactus) will be valorized treating them with innovative “clean technologies” in pilot facilities to extract bioactive compounds (e.g.: oils, waxes, fatty acids, carotenoids, polyphenols, tocopherols) and obtain defatted protein cakes to be used for producing new bakery products. The new products will be tested for consumers perception and acceptance and the technologies implemented at industrial scale. Environmental and socio-economic sustainability will be assessed, and integrated traceability systems and innovative processes for human health and well-being developed.
PROVIDE is designed to achieve a multi-sector impact (public authorities, market system, consumers/society, healthcare, environment, sustainability&circular economy), thus reflecting its multidisciplinary (anal.chemistry, (micro)biology and biotechnol., environm., food technologies, etc.), multi-actor and Pan-European approach.
