ALEHOOP

Biorefineries for the valorisation of macroalgal residual biomass and legume processing by-products to obtain new protein value chains for high-value food and feed applications

View website

Project details

Type of project: Innovation Action - Demonstration
Project focus: Food, feed & cosmetics
Feedstock origin: Aquatic
Feedstock type: Food industry sidestreams
Micro/macro algae

Project period: 1 June 2020 - 28 February 2025
Status: Completed
CBE JU Contribution: € 5 140 274,41
Call identifier: H2020-BBI-JTI-2019

Summary

Proteins and amino acids are in high demand for their role in food and food production. The properties they add - solubility, viscosity, foaming, emulsifying and gelling - play an important role in determining the appearance, texture and stability of foods. As the demand for food grows to meet an expanding population, the demand for proteins will increase accordingly. Currently, the world requires more than 200 million tonnes of protein, just over half of which is derived from plant sources.

For Europe to meet its own demand for protein requires importing some 30 million tonnes of soy each year - a 95 percent dependency on imports. This is economically and environmentally unsustainable, as well as undermining the EU’s food security. It is therefore important to diversify where and how to source its proteins for the future.

The ALEHOOP project, coordinated by Contactica Innovation in Spain, demonstrated, at pilot scale, the feasibility of using biorefineries to recover low-cost dietary proteins from algae-based and plant residual biomass, namely seaweed and legume by-products. The legume by-products included seed coats, hulls, broken seeds and leaves generated during the drying, milling, dehulling and sorting of crops. The biorefineries converted this biomass into alternative proteins for uses ranging from animal feed and food additives to high-end applications in nutrition and health management.

More information

Bio-based specialty ingredients: pioneer the development of new bio-based specialty ingredients derived from sustainable sources for a range of markets.
Protein supply chains: pave the way for more sustainable and affordable protein supply chains, helping to bridge the EU’s protein supply deficit with products that met industry and consumer expectations.
Feasibility: demonstrate the environmental and economic feasibility of the ALEHOOP biorefineries.
Standardisation: contribute to standardisation in the bio-based economy, increasing transparency through common reference methods and requirements.

Results

Pilot biorefineries: developed pilot-scale biorefineries to extract low-cost, sustainable dietary proteins from macroalgae (seaweed) and legume by-products, addressing Europe's need for alternative protein sources.
Protein extraction: demonstrated protein extraction from residual biomass, overcoming challenges in seasonal variability, process optimisation and regulatory compliance.
Food and feed products: used the recovered proteins to create high-value products including snacks, smoothies, meat alternatives, sports drinks and animal feed.
Market validation: validated the proteins for market application, paving the way for commercial adoption of sustainable protein sources in Europe.
Food security potential: showed strong potential to reduce EU dependence on imported soya and enhance food security.

Impacts

Knowledge: provided new insights into the wider and more efficient use of proteins from alternative sources, helping to tackle the deficit in the EU's soybean imports.
Innovation and market opportunities: created new market opportunities in legume and algae processing, and in the feed and functional food industries.
Cross-sector interconnections: established three new cross-sectoral interconnections: agri-food with functional protein producers, functional protein producers with the functional food industry, and functional protein producers with animal feed manufacturers.
New value chains and products: created 14 new bio-based value chains (two in green algae, six in brown algae and six in legume by-products) and contributed to six new food and beverage products and two animal feed products.
Environmental benefits: upcycled residual biomass to reduce food wastage and, in turn, unnecessary water and energy consumption and biodiversity loss, while encouraging a shift away from animal proteins and their significant GHG impact.

Consortium map

Project coordination

CONTACTICA SL MADRID, Spain

Consortium

CENTIV GMBH Syke, Germany
ALGINOR ASA Haugesund, Norway
FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION DONOSTIA/SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain
VIDARA LIFE INGREDIENTS, S.A.U. BARCELONA, Spain
ASOCIACION NACIONAL DE FABRICANTES DE CONSERVAS Y PRODUCTOS TRANSFORMADOS DE PESCADOS Y MARISCOS CENTRO NACIONAL DE CONOCIMIENTO Y TECNOLOGIA PARA LA INDUSTRIA MARINA ACUICOLA Y ALIMENTARIA VIGO, Spain
BIOZOON GMBH Bremerhaven, Germany
EIGEN VERMOGEN VAN HET INSTITUUT VOOR LANDBOUW- EN VISSERIJONDERZOEK Merelbeke, Belgium
VYZKUMNY USTAV VETERINARNIHO LEKARSTVI Brno, Czechia
NUTRITION SCIENCES Drongen, Belgium
TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY DUBLIN Dublin, Ireland
GARLAN, S.COOP. Ilarraza, Spain
WILD FLORIAN Freising, Germany
ISANATUR SPAIN SL PUENTA LA REINA, Spain
UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGO VIGO PONTEVEDRA, Spain
UNIVERSIDAD DE CADIZ Cadiz, Spain