(HEU Horizon Europe 21-27) Green extraction techniques for valorization of bioactive compounds from plant derived by-products. Nanoencapsulation for sensitive skin cosmetics production.

General objectives of the project:

• exchange of knowledge on bioactive compound properties,
• optimization of green extraction processes of such compounds from plant by-product materials,
• creation of innovative nanoencapsulated biocomponents for cosmetics formulations, mainly targeted on human sensitive skins.

FEM activities:

• phytochemical characterization of plant material and by-products
• extraction of natural compounds
• cultivation and provision of by-products

(HEU Horizon Europe 21-27) To foster sustainable and efficient food production AgrifoodTEF empowers innovators with validation tools needed to bridge the gap between their brightest ideas and successful market products.
Built as a network of physical and digital facilities across Europe, the project provides services that help assess and validate third party AI and Robotics solutions in real-world conditions aiming to maximise impact from digitalisation of the agricultural sector.

The consortium of partners is composed of some of the major European players in the field of digital innovation applied to the agrifood industry.

Organized in three national nodes (Italy, Germany, France) and 4 satellite nodes (Poland, Belgium, Sweden and Austria), it offers its services to companies and developers from all over Europe who want to validate their robotics and artificial intelligence solutions for agribusiness under real-life conditions of use, speeding their transition to the market.

(PSR PAT 2014-2022) The aim of the project is to develop, in a circular economy perspective, a local supply chain for the recovery and valorization of food by-products to produce, through insect rearing, new sources of alternative proteins with a low environmental impact to be used in the feed sector for livestock (farm animals), in particular chickens and fish. Different by-product mixtures are studied on reared larvae in order to define the influence of diet on the larvae. The next part of experimentation, involves feeding fresh or processed (frozen or within a feed) larvae to chickens and fish and testing their zootechnical performance.

FEM activities:
Experiments on different diets in fish, particularly for DNA extraction from fecal sample and subsequent molecular amplification of the region of interest for analysis with Illumina MiSeq technology. Meta-taxonimic analysis of the data obtained. RNA extraction from intestinal tissue for the study of gene expression of inflammation markers. The analyses aim to study the influence of diet on the one hand on the microbial ecology in the fish intestine and on the other hand on tissue inflammation levels.

(PSR PAT 2014-2022) The PEI (European Innovation Partnership) project "SMS Green - Circular Bioeconomy: apple-soil sustainability" (abbreviated as SMS Green) aims to close the circle of the fruit supply chain related to apple cultivation, production and processing, applying the principles of bioeconomy, through the introduction of technological and management processes that allow the recovery and valorization of by-products and waste materials for the production of energy from renewable sources and quality soil improvers to be returned to the soil for the restoration of fertility and maintenance of biodiversity.

(HEU Horizon Europe 21-27) Today’s Earth observation (EO) data provides fast complex information concerning various changes on Earth. Could we use this data to protect our planet? The EU-funded OEMC project will provide the open-Earth-monitor cyberinfrastructure to accelerate Europe’s capability to process high-quality, user-friendly, environmental information, based on Earth observation (EO) data. The developed cyber-infrastructure will be secured in FAIR data principles and existing platforms related to EO will be leveraged to a higher level. This will allow the monitoring of essential biodiversity indicators and the registering of natural capital accounts for private and public sectors, allowing businesses to improve their competitive advantage through the EU Green Deal and European citizens to have a better quality of life.

(Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions MSCA) The current global biodiversity crisis requires rapid, inexpensive and reliable methods of detecting the main threats to species’ survival: pathogens, habitat change, and loss of genetic diversity1. Equally crucial are solutions for stemming biodiversity loss: we lack vital models that determine how these threats interact, which would help prioritise conservation efforts. Recently, CRI-CG has discovered for one species of frog over a relatively small geographic area that eDNA extracted from water samples captures more genetic diversity than analyses using tissue samples (UNESCO-funded project ACQUAVIVA). The same eDNA can be used to detect amphibian pathogens. NIPMAP will apply this knowledge in an innovative way by: i) optimizing this eDNA approach to estimate mtDNA diversity in four amphibian taxa (two caudates, two anurans) and pathogen diversity (principal pathogens: Bd, Bsal, Rv) across the eastern Italian Alps; ii) using these data to inform individual-based and spatially explicit simulations of host movements and pathogen transmission37; iii) integrating parameters from i-ii with skin microbiota and other health indices, as well as iv) environmental variables at each sample site, to generate correlative models (e.g. GLMMs and SDMs) and potential distribution maps to direct conservation management decisions. We will also pilot two innovative eDNA protocols: one to measure nuclear DNA diversity (to measure current gene flow and dispersal rates) and one to understand microbiota function using metatranscriptomics. These interdisciplinary tools will be integrated into a workflow that will be applicable to animal taxa anywhere on the planet.

(Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions MSCA) Understanding role of neuroactive compounds in the diet in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

Growing evidence points to the links between diet, gut, and neurodegenerative diseases (ND). Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the NeuroTOm project aims to understand the significance of exposure to neuroactive compounds in the diet. Using tomato as a food source, the study will elucidate the role of these chemicals in the gut-brain axis and the ND disease development after digestion. The neuroprotective and neurodisrupting compounds from organic, conventional, and processed tomatoes will be characterised by mass spectrometry. In vitro colon models will be employed to study the fate of these compounds in the gut and identify gut-microbial metabolites and their effect on intestinal epithelium cells.

(HEU Horizon Europe) Preventing pandemics with biodiversity recovery. 
How important is nature restoration targeting biodiversity recovery? Can it also help prevent future disease (zoonotic and vector-borne) outbreaks? Despite the thousands of ongoing and planned nature restoration projects globally, little is known about whether these restorations indeed interrupt the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and mitigate disease risk. In this context, the EU-funded BEPREP project will find answers and provide practical information. Taking a participatory approach, BEPREP will involve indigenous and local communities in the identification of success factors of best practice restorations and interventions. The aim is to assist the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and prevent disease outbreaks. BEPREP’s findings will contribute to shaping a Europe that is prepared to respond to disease risk.