Project - ZEST - Fungi Fermentation supported by Digital Modelling

Project start 01.06.2024. Project completion 31.05.2028.

This new European four-year project, co-funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking programme and with a total budget of almost 7.5 million euros, aims at developing an innovatve fungi-based fermentaton system for producing protein, nutrients, nutraceutcals, and/or non-food by-products.
The ZEST consortim consists of twelve partners from ﬁve European countries.

PRESS RELEASE. 21/06/2024.
ZEST, a four-year project with a total budget of almost 7.5 million euros and co-funded by the Circular Bio-Based Europe.

Joint Undertaking programme (CBE-JU), has kicked oﬀ. The need to transiton to a more sustainable food system, including the development of new food and feed ingredients relevant for the protein supply chain has been recognised in EU strategy and policy, such as the Farm to Fork Strategy.

However, the bio-based upcycling of alternatve protein sources to high- value bioproducts is stll a cost and resource-intensive process, which is a signiﬁcant market barrier reducing the compettveness of bioreﬁneries across Europe.

One of the keys to this transiton? Fungi.

By fermentaton on agricultural sidestreams, fungi could achieve something that have not yet been seen in the food industry: when compared with protein producton through traditonal meat producton, fungi producton requires far less water, emits fewer greenhouse gasses, contributes to a circular economy and relieves the end product of any ethical and religious concerns. Besides high content of protein and dietary ﬁbres (polysaccharides), fungi contain other nutraceutcals such as vitamin D and B12.

In the context of ZEST's innovatve approach, that includes the use of AI (Artﬁcial Intelligence), fungi are used to convert agro-industrial sidestream into high-quality protein. This process, known as fungal fermentaton, involves the growth of fungi on the substrate, which they metabolize into proteins and other valuable compounds. The result is a sustainable, eﬃcient, and cost-eﬀectve method of protein producton that also addresses the issue of bioresource management. The main objectve of this new European initatve, which involves ﬁve European countries and is led by the Danish Technological Insttute, is to develop and demonstrate an innovatve fermentaton system for producing fungal protein, nutrients, and potentally nutraceutcals and/or non-food by-products.

From agro-indutrial sidestreams to a more sustainable future.

ZEST’s kick-oﬀ event was recently held at Danish Technological Institute, Taastrup, Denmark. During the meeting, the representatives of the twelve partners had the opportunity to discuss the scope and structure of the project as well as sharing impressions on the challenges that a transnatonal project of this scale could bring.

List of partners

DANISH TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (DENMARK).
QUH-LAB LEBENSMITTELSICHERHEIT TIERARZT (GERMANY).
BIOREACTORS.NET (LATVIA).
VIZLORE LABS FOUNDATION (REPUBLIC OF SERBIA).
SINONIN BIOTECH UG (GERMANY).
ACONDICIONAMIENTO TARRASENSE ASSOCIACION (LEITAT) (SPAIN).
FUNDACION CORPORACION TECNOLOGICA DE ANDALUCIA (SPAIN).
FOOD & BIO CLUSTER DENMARK / FBCD AS (DENMARK).
NORDZUCKER AG (GERMANY).
TATE & LYLE / G. C. HAHN & CO. STABILISIERUNGSTECHNIK GMBH (GERMANY).
LATVIJAS VALSTS KOKSNES KIMIJAS INSTITUTS (LATVIA).
SENSIMATE (DENMARK).

Contacts us

Danish Technological Insttute (DTI)
Xiaoru Hou – Project manager
mail: xih@teknologisk.dk

Danish Technological Insttute (DTI)
Anne Christne Hastrup – Project coordinator
mail: acha@teknologisk.dk

Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA)
manuel.silva@corporaciontecnologica.com

Co-funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101157382. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reﬂect those of the European Union or CBE JU. Neither the European Union nor the CBE JU can be held responsible for them.