Micro-PROT Project
April 2024 – March 2029
The production of Proteins from Unicellular Organisms (POU), defined as a source of edible proteins produced by unicellular microorganisms, represents an alternative source to proteins of animal and plant origin. By mastering the conduct of bioreactors, the extraction/purification stages, knowledge of metabolism and the versatility of microorganisms for substrates, it is possible to modulate the content and composition of POUs in a reasoned manner.
There are still obstacles to be overcome: i) nutritional and health quality, ii) production costs, iii) environmental impacts, consumer acceptability and regulatory issues.
Partners
TBI (UMR INSA CNRS 5504 INRAe 0792),
LCAI (UMR 1010 INP ENSIACET – INRAe),
Toxalim (UMR 1331 INRAe-ENVT-INP EI Purpan – UPS),
PNCA (UMR 0914 INRAe – AgroParisTech),
PSAE (UMR 0210 INRAe – AgroParisTech),
SayFood (UMR 0782 INRAe – AgroParisTech),
Eurosafe,
CRT-CATAT,
CRITT Bio-Industries INSAT
Budget
2 990 k€
Funding agencies
ANR-23-DIVP-0001
France 2030
AAP DIV-PROT
Project
objectives
This project aims to study the potential and feasibility of POU production from yeasts and bacteria for human food, taking into account the identified obstacles.
To do this, the project gathers different workpackages :
- bioproduction (WP2),
- extraction/purification steps (WP3),
- nutritional and toxicological characterizations (WP4),
- biochemical and functional characterizations (WP5),
- assessment of social issues such as the environmental impact of the process, technical-economic and consumer acceptability aspects ; “Novel Food” regulations (WP6).
This consortium and the integrated systemic approach will make possible to understand all the stages of the development chain of this potential new ingredient.
CRITT Bio-Industries
Contribution
CRITT Bio-Industries is involved in:
- The scale-up of POU production processes (USP and DSP),
- The production of POU pilot batches.
