A research project coordinated by the University of Helsinki develops new, sustainable ways to use side streams from the dairy and meat industries. Business Finland granted the project significant funding.
Current animal-based side streams contain significant amounts of nutritionally valuable ingredients. In a future food system, the goal is both to reduce the generation of side streams by finding new uses for raw materials and to make the most efficient and valuable use of the side streams that inevitably arise, for example as collagen-based ingredients in food products and in pharmaceutical preparations. This would also increase the value of the entire domestic animal-based value chain.
In the VALABio project (VALorization of Animal-based By-products into BIOactive innovations), researchers and companies are jointly developing methods to refine valuable ingredients from side streams for use in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, as well as a basis for diagnostic solutions in production animal health. The key development areas in the project are bioactive peptides, collagen-based ingredients and milk-derived extracellular vesicles.
"We aim to generate new scientific knowledge and early-stage solutions that enable future innovations in the food, health and diagnostics sectors," says project coordinator Professor Pekka Varmanen from the University of Helsinki.
Circular economy solutions and better animal health
VALABio advances the circular economy by improving resource efficiency and creating new value from existing biomass.
"Current animal-based side streams contain significant amount of nutritionally valuable components. In a future food system, those components should be valorized and incorporated into the most suitable products, such as food and pharmaceuticals. This will subsequently increase the value of the whole domestic animal-based value-chain. At Valio we are particularly interested in better utilization of extracellular vesicles and bioactive peptides from dairy production side streams. There is a lot to discover in peptides and dairy extracellular vesicles which open an entirely new channel to deliver targeted health benefits through food. VALABio offers an incredibly cross-industrial consortium to build know-how on detection, enrichment, and modification of the target components within side streams", says Valio's Project Manager Mikko Immonen.
At the same time, the project supports production-animal health and responsible antimicrobial use on livestock farms by developing early diagnostic methods.
"In the VALABio project, Canatu applies its carbon-nanotube-based sensor technology in a new biological context by combining it with extracellular vesicle research. This opens new opportunities for measuring biological information, and the technology platform's potential extends from animal health and food-chain analytics to medical research in the long term," says Canatu's Chief Technology Officer Ilkka Varjos.
A broad consortium takes results into practice
A broad project consortium ensures that research results transfer smoothly into practical applications.
Valio's Mikko Immonen is pleased with the consortium's composition: "VALABio offers an exceptionally cross-disciplinary consortium that builds expertise in detecting, enriching and modifying target ingredients from side streams."
The project brings together the University of Helsinki, the University of Oulu and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, along with nine companies: Brinter AM Technologies, Canatu, Ginolis, GMM Finland, Hankkija, HKFoods Finland, Orion Pharma, Valio and Vetcare. The last two companies are key partners of the University of Helsinki.
VALABio also connects to the following Business Finland Veturi programmes: Valio's Food 2.0, Canatu's Carbon Age and Orion, A Digital Boos for the Pharmaceutical R&D.
