Eco-designed valorization of food co-products and development of eco-efficient processes

The Canadian agriculture and agri-food industry is facing an increasing contribution of its impact on the environment due to the quantity of co-products generated during processing, and this, in response to the increasing population and its urbanization. In order to move towards a circular or sustainable economy, the valorisation of the numerous co-products of the bio-food sector is becoming a major issue. Indeed, the objective of the circular economy is to produce goods while strongly limiting the consumption of raw materials and non-renewable energy sources: the co-products are thus recycled into raw materials of the bio-food industry for the production of bioproducts with improved functions. This research project complements the CRSNG-Alliance VITAL consortium's program, which will be submitted in February 2021 and aims at the integrated valorization of co-products through eco-efficient food technologies in the context of a circular economy.

In this context, the aim of the present research project proposed to CRIBIQ in the framework of its 67th call for projects is to use technological approaches in coupling or not with electromembrane processes to valorize the co-products of the bio-food industry and develop eco-efficient co-products. Thus, the research objectives are to 1- Study the separation of hydrolysates of different origins by electrodialysis with membrane filtration (EDMF) for the purification of antimicrobial peptides, 2- Develop a coupling of electromembrane processes for the extraction of molecules of interest from tofu phytoserum and duckweed, 3- Concentrate polyphenols from cranberry juice by ultrafiltration for the production of an enriched juice, 4- Investigate the synergy between organic acids and antimicrobial peptides as antimicrobial agents to increase meat preservation, and 5- Formulate new functional membranes for selective separation or enzymatic hydrolysis. In addition to the results on the improvement of eco-efficiency thanks to the innovative processes used, this project could lead to the marketing of unique products and ingredients with scientifically demonstrated bioactivities. The anticipated economic benefits in the medium and long term are more than 10 million dollars per year and the creation of more than 15 new jobs.