EU project BIOSEA: validation and upscaling of production processes of valuable microalgae ingredients using a cascading biorefinery
IGV GmbH participates in the research project "BIOSEA" to develop an innovative, cost-effective technology to maximize the yield of active ingredients from algal biomass for food, feed and cosmetic applications.
The project BIOSEA (Innovative cost-effective technology for maximizing aquatic biomass-based molecules for food, feed and cosmetic applications) accelerates the development and validation of innovative, competitive and cost-effective upstream and downstream processes for the cultivation of the microalgae Spirulina platensis and Isochrysis galbana and of the macroalgae Ulva intestinalis and Saccharina latissima including cell disruption, fractionation and transformation technologies. The innovation consists in the application of a cascading biorefinery to recover more compounds from the same starting material, which requires technological adaptations and optimizations. As a result, at least six high-quality ingredients that can be used for high-added value products in food feed and cosmetics, will be produced in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner (up to 55% cheaper than current processes).
With its wealth of experience from more than 25 years of research, development and production of bioactive extracts from microalgae and macroalgae the division IGV PLANTTECH in Nuthetal performs the following tasks within the BIOSEA project:
- Cultivation of microalgae
- Separation, drying, extraction, purification and concentration of valuable microalgae ingredients
- Optimization of new fractionation, extraction and purification methods for the most important target compounds
IGV GmbH is a member of a European consortium in the BIOSEA project funded under the Horizon 2020 programme "Bio-based Industries Research and Innovation action". The "BIOSEA" project, which is coordinated by the materials research institute AITEX, involves 13 project partners from 5 European countries - Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey, who have extensive experience in cultivating and processing algae biomass.
The specialist areas of the consortium partners include the fields of life sciences and biotechnology (IGV GmbH; ctaqua), chemical science and technology (VITO NV; FeyeCon), food and feed technology (BIOPOLIS SL, DIBAQ DIPROTEG SA, Soria Natural, COMPOUND FEED SUPPLEMENTS, SA), Cosmetics (Van Loon Chemical Innovations BV, HENKEL), Materials Science (AITEX) and Environmental Science (TABU Solutions).
The total duration of the project is 36 months (1 June 2017 - 31 May 2020).
Additional information about BIOSEA can be found on the website http://biosea-project.eu/, on Facebook and Twitter under @biosea-project or #biosea-project or you can write an e-mail under the following link http://biosea-project.eu/contact/.
Uwe Hager
Project Manager BIOSEA
IGV PLANTTECH
Tel. +49 33200 89-0
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Petra Sandau
Head of IGV PLANTTECH
Tel. +49 33200 89-257
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This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 790157. |