ENABLE: Development of algae-based bioactive foods

Microalgae have a great potential for human nutrition due to their ingredients. In particular, the unicellular freshwater algae Chlorella zofingiensis is rich in valuable compounds such as primary and secondary carotenoids and a wide range of unsaturated fatty acids.

The ENABLE project will therefore investigate resource-efficient production and the nutritional and physiological potential of C. zofingiensis.

As C. zofingiensis can be cultivated under photoautotrophic, mixotrophic and chemoheterotrophic process conditions, the different trophic process modes will be analyzed for their economic viability. To this end, a process model will be developed and a techno-economic analysis will be carried out for different production methods. The project will also focus on a gentle and efficient extraction using pulsed electric fields, which is expected to result in a correspondingly high product quality and bioactivity of fresh algae biomass. Finally, demonstration products will be developed to provide important insights into product perception and the development of C. zofingiensis-products.

In cooperation with:

University of Technology Chemnitz, Professorship Automatic Control and System Dynamics, Dr.-Ing. (project management)
PUEVIT GmbH, Dresden
Elea Technology GmbH, Quakenbrück
Algenium GmbH & Co KG, Bielfeld
Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg

Project funding:

Gefördert im Rahmen der Bekanntmachung des BMBF „Innovationsräume Bioökonomie“, Innovationsraum „NewFoodSystems – Neue Lebensmittelsysteme“