Fermentation of agricultural side-stream products by basidiomycetes for the production of aroma compounds

• Grant number: 23/02495-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: October 01, 2023
• End date: February 15, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Juliano Lemos Bicas
• Grantee: Juliano Lemos Bicas
• Host Investigator: Holger Zorn
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), Germany

Abstract

The global demand for natural aromas is increasing, driven by a greater consumers' appreciation of natural products in recent years. For this reason, the generation of aromas through biotechnological processes gains increasing strength and attractiveness, due to mild process conditions, with less use of toxic solvents, natural appeal and potentially competitive prices. In this sense, there has been a stronger interaction between researchers in the field of aromas at the Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) and Unicamp in recent years. As a concrete example, there is a project financed by the The Good Food Institute that involves the collaboration of these research groups to obtain meat-like aromas from the fermentation of agro-industrial side-stream products by basidiomycetes from Amazon. As a way of reinforcing this interaction and aligning the analytical procedures carried out in the two institutions, the present project involves experiments carried out by prof. Juliano Bicas at JLU to ferment potato skins, onion skins and outer cabbage leaves by basidiomycetes from JLU with the aim of identifying and characterizing the eventually formed aroma compounds by instrumental and sensory analyses. Thus, it is expected that this project can strengthen strategic partnerships between the researchers involved in the proposal, in addition to contributing to the improvements in obtaining more effective, profitable and robust biotechnological solutions to produce bioflavors. (AU)