Development of Microwave Assisted Cell Disruption of Biomass and Extraction of Valuable Compounds

The project aims to develop an integrated process and reactor design for future industrial implementation, where by-products from agro industrial processes (e.g. carrot peels) can be valorised by recovering high-value nonpolar components (e.g. carotenoids, well recognized natural pigments and widely used in the food and cosmetic industries) through a microwave assisted cell disruption process combined with microemulsion extraction. The AMICREX concept can be to address the challenges proposed by extraction of nonpolar metabolites, especially carotenoids, from other renewable biomass sources (e.g. Microalgae).

Project partners

• Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB (Germany)
• Consultant: Institute of Interfacial Process Engineering and Plasma Technology IGVP at the University of Stuttgart (Germany)

Funding

The research leading to results in this project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon2020 Marie Sklodovska Curie Individual Fellowship Programme (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014) under grant agreement n°661198.