The Ministry of Industry has decided to allocate 1.2 million euros for the implementation of the Alissec project. This has the main purpose circular and sustainable development of new ingredients and healthy food.
The Ministry of Industry and the Ecological and Digital Business Transition finances the Alissec project with 1,230,356 euros to develop new ingredients, healthy food and choices in a sustainable and affordable way through a circular economy model.
This initiative has passed developed through the annual call for strategic R&D projects 2021-2024 of the Directorate-General for Energy, Business R&D&I and Entrepreneurship. The following companies and research centers participated in the initiative: Tutti Pasta, Aperitivos y Exlusionados SA, AN S Coop, Agri-Food Cluster Association of Navarra, Public University of Navarra, University of Navarra and Sanygran Foods.
The aim of this project is to research and design new, nutritionally healthy ingredients and foods obtained through the circular economy in production systems. sustainable production of crops of high environmental importance and by-productsby adapting them to consumer demands in terms of organoleptic properties, nutrition, health, convenience and costs, from an approach that integrates the entire value chain.
The Alissec project has brought together several companies and research centers in Navarra and generated new foods and ingredients by applying the circular economy as the basis of the project. through the revaluation of by-products.
The project has managed to unite the beginning of the food chain from the primary sector to obtain prepared dishes for the end user highly nutritious and sustainable features based on the circular economy.
This opens the door to the use of products of plant origin with a higher added value than hitherto thanks to a better use of proteins, thus increasing the better sustainability of the agri-food systemvalidating and developing vegan products that are accepted on the market.
Alissec: project development
During the development of the project, legume varieties have been identified, such as peas, broad beans, chickpeas and lentils, which are of paramount importance due to their yield and quality. by using more environmentally friendly management. These products from the consortium partners are appreciated. Considering the potential they could have in new foods, efforts have been made to valorize by-products from the industries.
In Alissec New methods for the extraction of biocompounds (polyphenols, glucosinolates, lycopene and dietary fiber) have been developed from by-products of broccolitomato and artichoke that are then incorporated into it the development of new ingredients and prepared dishes. For the extraction and recovery of these biocompounds, conditioning and stabilization through various dehydration projects is crucial.
Formulations and prototypes of extruded products have been obtained with the three lines that Sanygran has, such as dry extrusion line, wet extrusion lines and VEGGIAN technologythus obtaining an analogue of minced meat, but of vegetable origin.
Moreover, thanks to the project Alissec A nutraceutical prototype has been realized powder based on high-quality vegetable proteins, soluble fibers and resistant starch. This wording is highly appreciated by volunteers.
The sustainability assessment focused on calculating the carbon and water footprint of broccoli cultivation (glucosinolate extraction) and tomato cultivation (lycopene recovery). Another achievement from Alissec was the analysis of the development of the products developed by some companies. Thanks to this, certain organic solvents have been selected and improved recovery/reusewhich will improve the extraction processes of the different biocompounds.