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National R&D

ALGAVALOR

MicroALGAE: integrated production and valuation of biomass and its various applications

Principal Investigator
Group Leader

PhD in Biology at FCUP, Porto. Full Professor – Faculty of Sciences of Porto University and director of CIIMAR – Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research, Chief Strategy Officer – Agriculture – Fykia Biotech. Director of the Team of Blue Biotechnology and Health (BBE) of CIIMAR.
Main research: cyanobacteria secondary metabolites: toxins and molecules with biotechnological applications. Director of the LEGE culture collection comprising more than 2000 strains of cyanobacteria and microalgae. Published 490 papers in Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology. Coordinator of two H2020 projects: RISE and ERA Chair.
Director of the Doctoral Program in Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture (U Porto and U Minho).

RESEARCH GROUPS:

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The ALGAVALOR project has as its general objective the integrated production of microalgae and the enhancement of its biomass and extracts in different applications, with the development and launch of new products in the human food, animal nutrition, cosmetics and biofertilizers markets. For this purpose, new production processes are proposed, with increased sustainability. This general objective can be broken down into a set of specific objectives, each achieved in a specific subproject (SP):

  • valorization of microalgae for human consumption (SP 1);
  • valorization of microalgae for animal feed (SP 2);
  • valorization of microalgae for natural cosmetics (SP 3);
  • development of new processes, including “new generation” open reactors, and optimization of existing processes, with a view to achieving gains in scale and efficiency (SP 4);
  • development of agricultural biofertilizers from microalgae and, use of agro-industrial waste as inputs for the production of “biological microalgae” in a circular economy logic (SP 5);
  • lastly, it is intended that the ALGAVALOR project will have a wide multisectoral impact, nationally and internationally, in the various sectors to be tested (SP 6).

The ALGAVALOR project will develop R&D around the applications of microalgae (fresh paste, powder and / or extracts) generating new products rich in biomass and / or microalgae extracts, having as key end-users partners in target markets: human and animal food and cosmetics . New processes will also be optimized and developed, including new generation open reactors and low-cost “biological” means of cultivation developed.
The consortium is led by CMP and consists of 10 companies and 11 non-corporate entities from the R&I system, which ensure, in each subproject, the existence of a complete consortium.

 

Project sheet here

 

Funding
Other projects