Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
New biomass stabilizers from food by products and wastes
Coordinator
Coordinator
New sustainable processes for stabilisation and sanitization of biomasses to be reintroduced in the production chain (in connection with Spoke 3). High pressure homogenization will be applied to biomasses as an alternative to thermal treatment for microbial inactivation. In addition, essential oils and aroma compounds will be tested to inactivate pathogenic and spoilage microbial species.
Report on the biomass stabilisation/sanitization methods selected (M36).
Many by-products and wastes from agrifood activities are perishable, because of their content of nutrients and relatively high water activity. Some ingredients deriving from treatment of by-products and wastes are perishable as well. However, by-products of some fruits (e.g., blueberry, citrus, and grapes) contain phenolics, terpenes, and bioactive peptides encrypted in native proteins that, showing antimicrobial activity, could stabilize perishable biomasses. This task aims to valorize the compounds deriving from food by-products and waste (FBPW) as biomass stabilizers.
Small molecules (e.g. terpenes, polyphenols, UNIMI) and peptides (obtained by use of food grade proteases, UNINA) derived from the seeds of grape, citrus pomaces, and other fruits by-products will be evaluated for their stabilizing capability on biomasses, be them perishable by-products, wastes, or novel ingredients obtained from T2.1.1 and T2.1.2. These compounds could be employed as either purified molecules or mixture of compounds. The stabilizing capability of small molecules and peptides will be assessed using them either in free form or after encapsulation in polysaccharide matrices. The stability of biomasses added with these compounds will be monitored at different storage times by reference methods. The compounds showing the best results will be tested as additional ingredients in prototype foods designed during the implementation of the T2.1.3 as well as in recycled foods as provided in other tasks (CNR).
