SUSFOOD2: Innovative processing of seaweed for novel, healthy food products and ingredients

Agricultural food production faces large technological and environmental challenges to remain sustainable, highlighting a pressing need for utilization of new food sources and alternative production sites. Brown seaweeds are important as food in East Asia, but presently underutilized in the Western world. Large-scale, sustainable cultivation is now increasing the availability of high-quality seaweed biomass in Europe. However, for brown seaweed to become a widespread food ingredient, improved processing methods to increase the edibility and nutritional value of both new and existing products are required. The primary objective of the "ProSeaFood" project has been to develop and apply innovative processing methods to increase the digestibility and nutrient availability of brown seaweeds. This should be achieved through employing enzymes and fermentation to increase nutritional availability and remove inedible or potentially harmful substances, and to introduce novel sensory properties. The plan was further to develop new food products that are nutritious, tasteful and have well-documented effects on consumer health. The project consortium has included partners from Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Spain, combining expertise in seaweed cultivation, biomass processing, fermentation, enzymology, and product development and quality control, to cover the value chain from raw material to finished food products. Based on new knowledge about the composition and effects of different pre-treatments on the cultivated brown algae species, the project has developed a method for the reduction of iodine and other minerals in brown algae, while improving the nutritional content and shelf life of the biomass. Processing with enzymes and fermentation has been directed toward modifying texture and flavour, increase digestibility, and increase accessibility of nutrient for probiotic microorganisms. Here, the project has selected and characterized bacterial strains that have been particularly efficient at fermenting seaweed, which can also be used as active food ingredients. We have further shown that pre-treatment of the biomass with enzymes can increase the efficiency of the following fermentation, and influence which compounds are produced by the probiotic bacteria. The processed brown algae have further been analysed with respect to sensory and technological properties as food ingredients, revealing important differences between the selected species and the processing methods (freezing, drying, heat treatment, fermentation, etc.). Based on these results, selected ingredients have been incorporated in food product prototypes which have been further characterized and subjected to a 100-person consumer test to assess market potential. The project has generated a new knowledge and large amount of data for the research and industry partners, new processing methodology implemented by the industry, as well as new prototypes for the food industry.

ProSeaFood har bidratt til å etablere et internasjonalt og tverrfaglig forskningssamarbeid av høy kvalitet, og har skapt ny kunnskap som vil danne et grunnlag for videre prosjektsamarbeid. For den norske industripartneren SES har prosjektet gitt en økt forståelse av biomassen og effekten av ulike forbehandlingsmetoder, en ny prosess som er implementert i produksjonslinjen, og et utvidet internasjonalt kundenettverk. Tilsvarende har partnerne innen spansk næringsmiddelindustri fått tilgang på, og kunnskap om, en ny råvare, samt utviklet og evaluert prototyper til nye markedsområder. Viktige effekter av prosjektet har vært 1) Utvikling av ny kunnskap og metodikk nødvendig for utvidede marked for norsk makroalgeindustri 2) Ny kunnskap om mattrygghet og helseeffekter for råstoffet og prosesserte ingredienser, til nytte for produsenter, forbrukere og lovgivende myndigheter, og 3) Promotering av norskprodusert og bærekraftig råstoff til europeisk næringsmiddelindustri.

Agricultural food production faces large technological and environmental challenges to remain sustainable, highlighting a pressing need for utilization of new food sources and alternative production sites. Brown seaweeds are important as food in East Asia, but presently underutilized in the Western world. Large-scale, sustainable cultivation is now increasing the availability of high-quality seaweed biomass in Europe. However, for brown seaweed to become a widespread food ingredient, improved processing methods to increase the edibility and nutritional value of both new and existing products are required. The primary objective of the "ProSeaFood" project is to apply innovative processing methods to increase the digestibility and nutrient availability of brown seaweeds. This will be achieved through employing enzymes and fermentation to increase nutritional availability and remove inedible or potentially harmful substances, and to introduce novel sensory properties. Based on the processed ingredients, the project will further develop innovative food products that are nutritious, tasteful and have well-documented effects on consumer health. The project consortium includes partners from Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Spain, combining expertise in seaweed cultivation, biomass processing, fermentation, enzymology, and product development and quality control, to cover the value chain from raw material to finished food products. The project is research-driven for the development of the processing methods, with a strong industrial collaboration for product conceptualization, development and quality control.