PHENOLEXA

Development of benign cascade extractive biorefinery for converting agri-food side streams into high-value polyphenolic bioactives and functional fibres for pharma, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals and food products.

The PHENOLEXA product has the objective to unlock the potential of polyphenols-rich agri-side streams (olive, grape shoots and leaves, chicory, and onion residues) to procure bioactive compounds of high value via the development of cascade smart biorefinery which combines pretreatment of the biomass with benign environmentally friendly green solvents extraction technology.

According to Eurostat, the agricultural sector is the biggest producer of the residual biomass in Europe, generating annually approximately 400 million tons of dry agricultural waste. This residual biomass is highly rich in various bioactive compounds (oils, fatty acids, polyphenols, proteins) which could be used to improve the human health and wellbeing but usually los for high-value applications due to the lack of comprehensive technology to effectively extract and preserve the bioactives. Among the natural bio-based compounds, polyphenols are the biggest class of bioactives with a range of beneficial properties for human health which have not be utilised for their full potential.

PHENOLEXA is focused on the processing of several types of agri and biowaste to create a pool of new functional polyphenolic bioactives with the tuned functionality (anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory) whereas the remaining fibres and colorants will be utilized in functional foods.

Eurecat participates in the project through the Chemical Technology Unit, the Nutrition & Health Unit and the Omic Sciences Unit.

The consortium of the project, coordinated by CIVITTA, is formed by 12 partners from different European countries: Novatica Technologies, the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche from Italy (CNR), the CARTIF Technology Centre, CELABOR, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland), the University of Loughborough from the United Kingdom, the Bionigree company, the EPC-Project Corporation Climate, the Chambre Régionale d’Agriculture Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Carinsa.