Bolzano becomes an international center for food fermentation research
Research into the intestinal macrobiota, the recycling of waste materials and the development of functional and sustainable foods: these are the key research areas of the new ICOFF - International Centre for Food Fermentations at unibz, which was recently opened in the NOI Techpark. It is a center of excellence dedicated to research and development in the field of fermented foods and builds on the experience of the unibz Micro4Food platform. The intended positioning as an internationally leading research center in the field of innovative food fermentation is supported by the cooperation with nine food companies.
ICOFF laboratory
unibz
Developing more sustainable, healthier and more nutritious food in joint research projects with some of the most important national and international food producers - and all this based on fermentation, an ancient technique that is being revitalized and refined with the help of state-of-the-art technologies. This is the mission of a new center of excellence recently opened at the NOI Techpark of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano: ICOFF, the International Center for Food Fermentation. The center is headed by Prof. Raffaella Di Cagno, food microbiologist and head of the Micro4Food platform at unibz in the Technology Park.
"Fermented foods have been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years and are now attracting great interest from both science and industry due to their nutritional and health-promoting properties," emphasizes Prof. Raffaella di Cagno. "Numerous studies have shown that microbial fermentations have positive effects on health, improve the shelf life of food and can be the starting point for products with added value for consumers and the environment. With this in mind, the ICOFF aims to be a reference center for research and innovation in the field of food fermentation and to contribute to the development of new, sustainable and healthy solutions for the food industry," says Di Cagno.
The center's research areas
The aim of the competence center is to promote the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the food sector, stimulate the circular economy and improve consumer well-being. An important task of ICOFF will be the transfer of the latest scientific findings to the industry. The aim is to generate innovations at both local and global level. To this end, agreements have been reached with nine companies in the food sector. Each of these companies will support the research activities of young researchers at the competence center with 150,000 euros each. In return, they will work on solutions for specific needs of the partner companies. These include not only leading local companies, but also national and international market leaders: Dr. Schär, VOG products, Mila Südtirol, NSPulse srl, Giuliani, Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A., Puratos, THT Isnes and What's Cooking.
The ICOFF's research will focus on three main areas: the development and optimization of innovative products and processes through the application of microbial fermentation to produce new functional and shelf-stable foods; research into the effect of fermented foods on the gut microbiome, or intestinal flora, using advanced technologies such as the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem Simulator (SHIME, a kind of "electronic stomach"); the recycling of by-products and the valorization of alternative raw materials; and research into the potential of fermentation to transform food waste into sustainable resources.
"With the creation of the International Center for Food Fermentation, we not only want to promote research and technological innovation in the field of fermentation, but also provide concrete answers to the growing demand for sustainable and healthy food," Di Cagno added at the press conference to launch the center.
"The opening of the ICOFF is an important step for the agri-food sector, especially for South Tyrol, which is rich in culinary traditions related to fermented foods and can now play a leading role in the international panorama of food biotechnology," said the Rector of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Prof. Alex Weissensteiner. Alex Weissensteiner.
According to Prof. Marco Gobbetti, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences and Chief Scientist of the NOI Techpark, the new center is on its way to becoming a scientific reference point in the food sector - not only locally and nationally, but also internationally. "The ICOFF is valuable in many ways: it is an example of successful technology transfer, a hobbyhorse of the NOI, it uses and valorizes research results in this sector, it gives visibility to the faculty and it has the potential to take on an international leadership role," says Gobbetti.
"The ICOFF will strengthen the collaboration with unibz; at the same time, it will further expand the NOI Techpark's technology transfer activities in the food and health sector. The center will enable us to create further important synergies with local, national and international companies. It expands the skills already present in our innovation district and brings in new ones that will enable us to develop key solutions for the future of food," commented Vincent Mauroit, Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer at NOI Techpark.
Prof. Carlo Giuseppe Rizzello from the Sapienza University of Rome and member of the ICOFF Steering Committee highlighted the numerous projects in the field of food biotechnology that his research team has carried out in recent years in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Bolzano, in particular Prof. Raffaella Di Cagno and Prof. Marco Gobbetti. "The operational possibilities of the ICOFF, in which I am directly involved as a member of the Steering Committee, make it possible to benefit from the scientific advances that our sector has developed starting from traditional fermentation, focusing on functionality, new ingredients and the sustainability of food production. It is an opportunity to carry out applied research through joint developments and to facilitate a rapid dialog between science and industry."
The Südtiroler Sparkasse Foundation is once again proving to be an important partner for the economic and scientific development of the region and will contribute 150,000 euros to the center's operating costs for the first three years. "We believe that research and technological innovation can offer concrete solutions for a more sustainable food future. The results so far give us confidence that the work of this still young center will continue to make an effective contribution to the entire food chain and can be a driver for further developments aimed at reaching new milestones," emphasized Gerhard Comper, member of the Foundation's Board of Directors.
Finally, Stefan Cappelle, Group Fermentation Director at Puratos, explained the reasons behind the company's decision to invest in the new competence center. "Being part of an international center for food fermentation is essential to work with the best scientists in the field. Fermentation is an ancient technology that is very much in vogue today for good reasons, and we need to look at how we can make greater use of its positive effects for our food in the future."
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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