To propose innovative solutions for the creation of new healthy food products using sustainable and efficient technologies is the main goal of the “ValorMar” project, led by Sonae MC, in partnership with CIIMAR – the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto and Fórum Oceano.

With more than 8 million euros in funding, the project aims to valorise marine resources through research and create products for the food, biomedical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries using fish species, the isolation of marine bioactive compounds from macroalgae and microalgae, and the use of marine biomass.

The consortium involves 18 entities from the national scientific system, including the Universities of Aveiro, Minho, Porto, Algarve and Católica Portuguesa, and the Polytechnics of Viana do Castelo and Leiria, as well as 13 entities from different areas of activity, such as Docapesca, or Soja de Portugal, representing a diversity of agents of the entire sea value chain, from the primary industry to the consumer.

CIIMAR will have the task of “optimising an operational model to be applied in aquaculture in Portugal and Europe; obtaining extracts of macroalgae, microalgae and cyanobacteria for inclusion in functional aquaculture foods; and also developing new products of marine origin for human consumption or with cosmetic applications, “says Vitor Vasconcelos, CIIMAR’s chairman and professor at the Faculty of Sciences at U.Porto.

The project, which started in October 2017 and lasts for three years, is co-financed by the Incentives System for Research and Technological Development under the Portugal 2020 programme.
Source: noticias.up.pt