Sustainability and HEalth as drivers of the rational design of fermentation processes: a novel prototype of Non-Alcoholic Beer

Beer is the world’s most consumed alcoholic drink but its alcohol content has a negative impact on health.

The consumption of non-alcoholic beer (NAB) has rocketed recently, driven by changes in manufacturing processes and a more health-conscious consumer base. In Europe, the market size is estimated in $22 billion (2022). Despite its potential for diet improvement, the impact of NAB on health has been barely investigated.

Moreover, this expanded market is not reusing its by-products properly and generates considerable waste.

The aim of this project is to address this lack of information by elucidating the contribution of NAB to health, and by implementing waste valorisation practices to generate products with added value for the circular economy.

By applying the latest methods in metagenomics, synthetic microbial ecology approaches and metabolism modelling, SHE-NAB will provide a proof-of-concept for the rational design of a novel NAB prototype, helping to deliver on EU health and sustainability priorities and to educate in the context of public health.

After the generation of valorised waste products, we will harness the microbial potential of selected newly characterised strains with key functionalities (i.e: synthesis of bioactive molecules) to develop synthetic communities (SC) for the fermentation of NAB at small and pilot scale.

By metagenomics and metabolomic data obtained during fermentation, ecological networks will be constructed to disentangle the contribution of each taxa to the traits of the final product and allowing a rational design of the SC to control fermentation processes. The final products will be assessed for health benefits using ex vivo gut models and cell assays.

An effective two-way transfer of knowledge with industry will be achieved, particularly during a non-academic placement period, applying the SC developments at pilot scale and using valorised waste products for the production of healthy NAB in a commercial brewery environment.