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INNOVATION
Innovative Chlorella vulgaris mutant strains with yellow colour for food applications
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Market Maturity: Tech Ready
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Market Creation Potential
This innovation was assessed by the JRC’s Market Creation Potential indicator framework as addressing the needs of existing markets and existing customers. Learn more
Location of Key Innovators developing this innovation
Key Innovators
UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)
This innovation contributes to the following SDG(s)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 2
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

The UN explains: "It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food.

If done right, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all and generate decent incomes, while supporting people-centred rural development and protecting the environment.

Right now, our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded. Climate change is putting even more pressure on the resources we depend on, increasing risks associated with disasters such as droughts and floods. Many rural women and men can no longer make ends meet on their land, forcing them to migrate to cities in search of opportunities.

A profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed if we are to nourish today’s 815 million hungry and the additional 2 billion people expected by 2050.

The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication."

The EU-funded Research Project
This innovation was developed under the Horizon 2020 project ProFuture with an end date of 31/12/2023
  • Read more about this project on CORDIS
Description of Project ProFuture
ProFuture will set the basis for market uptake of innovative, healthy and sustainable food and feed products, reformulated with protein-rich ingredients from Spirulina, Lemon/lightly/Chlorella vulgaris, Tetraselmis chuii and Nannochloropsis oceanica. Multi-factors approach and LCA/LCC will boost sustainability of the microalgal biomass production and processing, by reducing energy/water consumption and the carbon footprint. Implementation of innovative technologies will increase the efficiency and decrease the production costs of biomass, ingredients and foods/feeds. Optimized workflows will be tested at pilot plant, as part of a biorefinery process, to produce single-cell proteins and protein isolates, which will be characterized for their nutritional, safety, techno-functional and organoleptic properties as well as for economic viability & sustainability. Food and feed will be formulated with the novel ingredients at pilot plant level in collaboration with SME and large companies. Single-cell proteins will be incorporated in foods (n=6) and feeds (n=5) which will be produced at industrial scale. The food/feed microalgae value chain in EU will be analysed and improvements will be proposed to increase the economic viability and the communication between actors. Social and economic benefits of innovative food and feed products will be demonstrated by: i) supporting the authorization of novel microalgae protein ingredients for food and/or feed applications in the EU, ii) assessing consumer acceptance of and preference for microalgae protein-based products, iii) preparing a successful market implementation and exploitation of the project results and iv) devising a dissemination and communication plan for maximum outreach to all relevant stakeholders. ProFuture consortium (8 RTDs, 16 SMEs, 8 large industries and 1 association) brings together expertise with a clear market orientation to increase the competitiveness of the EU microalgae value chain.

Innnovation Radar's analysis of this innovation is based on data collected on 21/03/2024.
The unique id of this innovation in the European Commission's IT systems is: 111100