Successful results from the 2nd Year of the R&D Project “AVANZA-S”: New Healthy food products and advanced packaging solutions.

The Centre for Industrial and Technology Development (CDTI, for its name in Spanish) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy has reviewed and certified the second year of the R&D project “Research and experimental development of new healthy food products and advanced packaging solutions” (AVANZA-S).

The project was selected and funded by CDTI in the frame of the CIEN Strategic Program for National Business Research Consortiums, whose main objective is to fund large experimental development projects in key strategic areas of international relevance.

With an investment of over 7 million euro, the AVANZA-S project aims to research on new food ingredients and formulations and on new systems and materials for advanced food packaging that permit to develop new healthy and multifunctional meat products meeting the demands of consumers and public authorities regarding health and sustainability.

The project, that started the 1st September 2015 and will end by August 2019, brings together 7 companies with large experience and capacities in terms of R&D: UVE, S.A. (UVESA, consortium leader), ELPOZO ALIMENTACIÓN, S.A., BTSA Biotecnologías Aplicadas, MONTELOEDER S.L., NUREL S.A. (SAMCA GROUP), PLASTIENVASE S.L. (SP Group) and BANDESUR ALCALÁ S.A. The project also counts with the participation of 11 public research groups belonging to several Spanish universities and to CSIC, the Spanish National Research Council.

In this project, MONTELOEDER is working in the development of functional ingredients based on plant extracts for the food industry, including food supplements and nutricosmetics. During this second year, the company has successfully carried out an intervention assay to verify the capacity of an ingredient, mixture hibiscus and lemon verbena extract, to increase satiety and help lose weight and body fat in overweight and moderately obese people (Metabolaid). The results from the assays have been published in the scientific journal Food & Function.

Moreover, the company has developed an ingredient, mixture of 4 different extracts, to protect and repair the visible and invisible skin damage caused by pollution and amplified by exposure to UV. Ingredient components were carefully selected based on their individual efficacy through different antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and whitening bioassays. The phenolic compounds, diterpenes, and flavonoids contained in this ingredient act synergistically and complementarily to reduce the negative effects that pollution produced in the skin. This ingredient, registered as ZeroPollution, will be further assessed during the following years.

Núria Caturla

New Product Development Manager