Design and integration of value chains for the processing of marine biomass based on environmental indicators towards a marine biorefiney

More than 30% of the biomass landed by fishing fleets in the ports of Spanish coast constitutes a waste not usable for human consumption, resulting in hundreds of thousands of tons/year of by-products that must be managed urgently to avoid serious environmental pollution problems. To this biomass, we must add the fishing discards that the recent EU policy forces to land in ports.

Most of these by-products are used in the production of fish meals, generally of low quality in Spain, in which the biomass undergoes a low valorisation level.

Although this type of treatment is necessary to account for some fractions exhibiting low added value, there are other alternatives that maximise the obtaining of compounds of high commercial interest in diverse sectors of application.

In this context, the main goal of this IF is to assess different scenarios of valorisation of marine biomass including the design, optimisation and integration of the biocompounds production processes with medium-high value added for the use as bioactive compounds of interest to the food, pharmaceutical or nutraceutical industries, by using more efficient as well as environmental and sustainable practices in a marine biorefinery concept.

Based on previous experience with this type of raw material, processes and related methodologies, this project is essentially a research and a development action of optimised protocols for obtaining biocompounds that can be easily transferred to a potential industrial implementation.