There is a strong trend to produce ingredients for food (and non-food) products from agro-feed stocks in a more sustainable way than is currently realized or possible. Sustainable production is defined here as production that is efficient and effective in the use of raw materials and energy, that generates a minimum of waste or low-value streams, and that leads to new and existing products and/or materials with the required functionality, safety and integrity.
This research area is sub-divided into two themes:
A1 - Bio (techno) logical production routes
Genomics and related technology offers new ways of identifying bio-production routes. Metabolic flux engineering and related technologies will make optimal use of the 'cell factory'. Similar technologies will enable new biocatalysts to be identified for bioorganic synthesis and new integrated reactor/separator concepts to be developed, all of which can be applied to the sustainable and highly selective production of (food or related) components.
A2 - New process principles and production systems
Both the synthesis of ingredients and, for example, the effective fractionation or refining of agro-feed stocks and the structuring of products, can be only realized by developing effective and efficient production systems (reaction and separation), single or in cascade. New opportunities offered by the emerging areas of (bio)nano- and microtechnology will be explored. Additional research will be carried out on developing production chains or networks with improved sustainability and/or product functionality, safety and integrity.
Major local or national research programmes fund several research projects under this research area, for example;