Description

Cultivation of Tomatoes, Olives and Grapes are major agricultural sectors in southern Europe. As more than 80% of these products are being further processed into food products, the industry is faced with the problem of residue disposal. Despite the exhaustive research activity on proper handling and re-utilisation of processing residues of the European Commission (FP5 and FP6), no generalised valorisation has been implemented in Europe yet.

Processing Residues obtained from the production of tomato products, olive oil, and grape juice/wine are still rich sources of bioactive compounds: high-valuable oils, dietary fibre, vitamins and several secondary plant constituents are interesting food additives (i.e. colorants, antioxidants) or cosmetic ingredients.

The Extraction and Purification of the bioactive Compounds from very cheap and reliable raw materials can pose an alternative prospect for a profitable utilisation of processing residues and can, in parallel, enhance allocation of natural ingredients on the European market.

The primary Objective of BIOACTIVE-NET is to assess and disseminate to the SME processors, strategies for the extraction of bioactive compounds from tomato, olive, and grape processing residues.

The RTD Partners will create a broad information platform for dissemination of research results and state of the art regarding the extraction of bioactive compounds from tomato, olive, and grape processing residues as well as their application facilities in the food and cosmetic industry.

The participating IAGs will implement dissemination workshops in the South European countries (Spain, Italy, Greece and France) aimed at transferring know-how and evaluating economic feasibilities of the extraction of bioactive compounds to the residue generating companies (SMEs), technology providers, industrial residue extractors and the end-users of the respective natural ingredients.

EUROPEAN MARKET ON NATURAL INGREDIENTS

BIOACTIVE-NET Project will strengthen the European market on natural ingredients, which have an enormous economic potential due to high availability of the raw materials, by offering new challenges for the development of healthy food or cosmetic products and pre-empting the strong competition from third countries.

AIMS AND MILESTONES OF THE BIOACTIVE-NET PROJECT:

CREATION OF A BROAD INFORMATION PLATFORM REGARDING THE EXTRACTION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM TOMATO, OLIVE, AND GRAPE PROCESSING RESIDUES AS WELL AS THEIR APPLICATION FACILITIES IN THE FOOD AND COSMETIC INDUSTRY
IMPLEMENTATION OF DISSEMINATION WORKSHOPS IN THE SOUTH EUROPEAN COUNTRIES (SPAIN, ITALY, GREECE AND FRANCE) AIMED AT TRANSFERRING KNOW-HOW AND EVALUATING ECONOMIC FEASIBILITIES OF THE EXTRACTION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS TO THE RESIDUE GENERATING COMPANIES (SMES), TO THE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS, TO THE INDUSTRIAL RESIDUE EXTRACTORS AND TO THE END-USERS OF THE RESPECTIVE NATURAL INGREDIENTS
STRENGTHENING OF THE EUROPEAN MARKET ON NATURAL INGREDIENTS, WHICH HAS AN ENORMOUS ECONOMIC POTENTIAL DUE TO HIGH AVAILABILITY OF THE RAW MATERIALS
INCREASE OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN FOOD INDUSTRY BY PRE-EMPTING THE COMPETITION IN THE USE OF BIO-ACTIVE COMPOUNDS DERIVED FROM NATURAL, RENEWABLE AND ECONOMIC SOURCE PROCESSING RESIDUE
INCREASE OF THE USE OF BIO-ACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN THE EUROPEAN DIET

Last updated in November 2008