UP4HEALTH

Summary

Despite the increasing pressure on limited resources, waste – particularly food waste and the by-products of food processing – is a major issue. Indeed, despite the growing demand for bio-based ingredients, the number of products on the market produced through the valorisation of food by-products is still somewhat limited. This potentially valuable source of biomass is currently underexploited.

Of this waste, more than 9.3 million tonnes is made up of olive and grape production by-products, which is particularly rich in bioactive compounds. The UP4HEALTH project plans to exploit this resource. It will demonstrate – at pre-industrial scale – an integrated biorefinery for recovering valuable biomolecules from food processing by-products. It will develop a unique zero-waste sustainable approach, using as feedstock some of the most commonly available, but most-underexploited food processing by-products in southern Europe, namely olive pomace, olive pits, grape pomace and nut by-products. It will use these to produce four organic, natural, sustainable and healthy ingredients.

This will produce high added-value ingredients for the nutraceuticals and cosmetic sectors that meet the growing demand for natural, healthy and sustainably sourced products. To ensure the zero-waste approach, the UP4HEALTH project will use the residual fraction from the olive pits to provide energy for the biorefinery.