CARTIF Projects

Study of the use of alternative protein sources from agro-industrial by-products.

Description

Proteins are one of the essential macronutrients in the diet that are facing a foreseeable shortage due to the strong demand that exists to cover the needs of the coming population. In order to meet this demand, as well as the quality requirements that must be met, new sources of protein need to be incorporated into the diet and processing methods need to be developed to make it easier to obtain and consume. Among the many solutions proposed for this so-called protein transition, the search for new, more sustainable protein sources and the use of technology to make the most of existing resources and use them in a more sustainable way are valued.

As part of its strategy of using technologies to improve the use of alternative sources and the possibility of recovering the value of by-products, the Centre is working on the valorisation of components of the by-product matrix generated during processing and how the use of technologies such as extrusion can help to increase their applicability. In addition, the Centre has been working since the beginning of the Area’s activity on the development of healthier foods by reformulating existing foods, substituting alternative raw materials of greater nutritional value in food formulation and applying processes that promote the increased use of less conventional ingredients and by-products.

The research line aims to increase the extractability of protein sources and other compounds of nutritional interest, naturally present in by-products generated in the transformation processes of the food industry, through the use of “green technologies” of pre-treatment such as extrusion, which allows the transformation of the components of the material to increase its subsequent applicability.

This line includes the need to include equipment that allows the characterisation and quantification of parameters that define the properties of ingredients and finished products at a higher level than conventional chemical determinations. SEM-EDS (Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) and RVA (Rapid Viscosity Analyser) equipment can contribute significantly to the characterisation of extruded proteins by providing valuable information on the structure, characterisation of particle size and morphology, composition, functional and rheological properties of the extracted proteins.

 

Objectives

  • Acquisition and commissioning of new equipment.
  • Identification and improvement of alternative protein sources for incorporation into healthier and more sustainable foods.
  • Study of the application of pre-treatment processes as methods for extracting and modifying proteins and other nutrients from agri-food by-products.
  • Study of the techno-functional properties of raw materials from valorisation and evaluation of their application to the development of healthy and sustainable foods.

Expected Results

  • It will further deepen the knowledge of the starting material by being able to know exactly how the processes affect the molecular structure and thus how they affect the techno-functional properties to the benefit or detriment of identifying new applications for the development of new products.
  • Obtaining protein sources from the valorisation of by-products creates an opportunity to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be possible to identify and quantify the effectiveness of these processes and of the extracted proteins to be used as new ingredients without harming the environment.
  • A beneficial impact on health, associated with digestibility and amino acid composition, is expected from the way these proteins are extracted, associated with the knowledge that will be established of the process parameters during extraction and the determination of the properties by means of the equipment that is the subject of this investment.
  • The aim is to increase the added value of natural resources such as the by-products generated by the usual activity of the food industry to be used as a source of new ingredients, thus closing the production cycles and helping to minimise the impact of food waste.

R&D Line

  • Research into the use of new protein sources and application of innovative technologies for modifying the techno-functional properties of ingredients and obtaining new food products.

Subvención de Apoyo a la inversión para la mejora de las capacidades científicas y tecnológicas de los Centros Tecnológicos de la Comunidad de Castilla y León (2023)

File: 2023 CCTT 09

 

Total Budget: 342,000€

CARTIF Grant: 171,000€

Duration: 02/10/2023 – 31/05/2024

Co-financed with ERDF funds contributing to the Policy Objective “OP1: A more competitive and smarter Europe, promoting innovative and intelligent economic transformation and regional connectivity to information and communication technologies”.

 

Responsible

Belén Blanco Espeso

Division of Agrifood and Processes

belbla@cartif.es

Networking

Other projects:

iPhotoCult

iPhotoCult

iPhotoCult has as objective to design, develop and validate innovative and sustainable photonic solutions for the preservation of Cultural Heritage. These solutions, applicable on remote or in situ, include advance diagosis tools and a platform of services on the cloud that allos the precise monitorization of buildings, monuments and artefacts

read more
INHERIT

INHERIT

The overall vision of INHERIT is to create a systematic methodology, accompanied by leading-edge Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and (big) data analytics, and associated social/behavioural practices, towards sustainable, inclusive and resource-efficient Cultural Heritage (CH) solutions.

read more
ARISE

ARISE

The ARISE project envisions a near future which aligns with Industry 5.0, prioritising, resilient, sustainable and human-centric work environments. In such a future, companies recognise that investing in industrial human-robot interaction (HRI) is essential for achieving better short- and long-term goals, rather than a cost.

read more
D-HYDROFLEX

D-HYDROFLEX

D-HYFROFLEX seeks research into technological innovations in hydropower plants in search of improved efficiency and sustainability and hydropower competitiveness in modern electricity markets. The project will develop tools for the digital renovation of existing hydroelectric plants based on sensors, digital twins, artificial intelligence, hydrolyser modelling and image processing.

read more
NATMed

NATMed

NATMed project will develop, implement and validate a joint of innovative nature based solutions (NbS) on existent water infrastructures for improving the management of the water cycle and provide Ecosistemic Services and environmental, social and economic benefits.

read more
ENPOWER

ENPOWER

ENPOWER will design, develop and demonstrate SSH-driven methodologies, interactive and closed-loop tools, and data-driven services for energy-activated citizens and energy-secure cross-sector communities towards a citizen-centric energy system.

read more
RURACTIVE

RURACTIVE

RURACTIVE encourage a just and sustainable transition of rural areas through intelligent solutions, lead by the community, tailor-made, based on the local and inclusive inside the multi-stakeholder rural innovation ecosystems at 12 pilot areas (Dynamos, Ds).

read more
SMARTeeSTORY

SMARTeeSTORY

SMARTeeSTORY will create an integrated intelligent building automation and control system to monitor and optimise the energy performance of historic non-residential buildings, according to an innovative multi-domain approach (integrating the 9 domains proposed by the ISR methodology).

read more
FoSSIS3

FoSSIS3

FoSSIS3 objective is to develop an operational Platform based on artificial intelligence to support decision-making in the energy planning process, through the characterization and estimation of the solar resources, and the development of analytics that support the strategy to improve the energy behavior of the building sector.

read more
THUMBS UP

THUMBS UP

THUMBS UP aims to develop and demonstrate thermal energy storage (TES) at daily (based on PCM) and weekly level (based on TCM soprtion technology) solutions to be easily integrate in EU buildings (both connected and not-connected to DHN) to increase their energy efficiency.

read more
BATERURGIA

BATERURGIA

BATERURGIA “research into advanced recycling technologies for obtaining strategic metals from EV batteries”, aims to respond to the challenges posed by the recycling of LIBs and provide knowledge to solve the problems arising from the recovery and selective separation of critical metals to facilitate their use in the manufacture of new batteries or to replace conventional raw materials and introduce them into other production sectors as alternative raw materials. 

read more
SINNOGENES

SINNOGENES

SINNOGENES project aims to develop the Storage INNOvations (SINNO) energy toolkit, a complete framework of methodologies, tools and technologies that will enable the grid integration of innovative storage solutions beyond the state-of-the-art, while demonstrating sustainability, technical performance, lifetime, nondependency on location geogrpahical particularities and cost.

read more
CRONUS

CRONUS

CARTIF Projects CRONUSCapture and Reuse Of biogenic gases for Negative-emission-sustainable biofUelSDescriptionIn the current context of environmental sustainability, the EU-funded CRONUS project will pave the way for bioenergy, which is key resource for the...

read more
ASCEND

ASCEND

ASCEND aims to accelerate the implementation of Positive Clean Energy Districts (PCEDs) for the transformation of cities towards climate neutrality and social justice in Europe. To this end, Ascend will carry out the following measures.

read more
CO2SMOS

CO2SMOS

CO2SMOS project propose an innovative solution to develop new technologies based on processes for the conversion of biogenic CO2 and renewable raw materials into high value-added (bio)chemical products for chemistry sector and bio-based industries.

read more
Share This