CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia) participates in the ZEST project, a new European initiative co-financed by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE-JU) program, lasting four years, which will utilize the fermentation process of fungi to reduce the production of agro-industrial waste, one of the major environmental challenges identified by the European Union.
Fungi are highly versatile organisms capable of breaking down complex organic materials. Starting from this premise, ZEST proposes using this mechanism, known as fungal fermentation, to convert agro-industrial waste into proteins and other valuable compounds, thus promoting circularity in the food production process.
For this purpose, the ZEST project, which has a total budget of 7.5M€, it will rely on artificial intelligence (AI) as a great ally, as it will allow for the supervision and control of fermentation conditions, ensuring the highest possible yield in the aforementioned decomposition process.
Taastrup as a starting point
ZEST, coordinated by the Danish Technological Institute, is driven by a collaborative consortium of twelve entities from five different countries, whose members gathered in Taastrup (Denmark) for the launch meeting to address the various challenges posed by the project. Sofía Sánchez, Communication Technician, was the one who represented CTA.
CTA role
The foundation plays an integral role in ZEST, as it is responsible for directing the communication and dissemination strategy of the project in all the regions where it is deployed. Marta Macías, Innovation Consultant, is in charge of technical direction, while Manuel Silva is the Communication Technician.
The ZEST consortium is composed of the following institutions:
- Teknologisk Institut (Denmark).
- Quh-Lab Lebensmittelsicherheit (Germany).
- Bioreactors.net (Latvia).
- VizLore Labs Foundation (Republic of Serbia).
- Sinonin Biotech UG (Germany).
- Acondicionamiento Tarrasense (LEITAT) (Spain).
- Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (Spain).
- Food & Bio Cluster Denmark (Denmark).
- Nordzucker AG (Germany)
- G. C. HAHN & CO / Tate & Lyle. (Germany).
- Latvijas Valsts Koksnes Kimijas instituts (Latvia).
- Sensimate (Denmark).
