O4S

"Sustainable surfactant production from renewable resources through natural fermentation for applications in natural, organically-certified products"

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'O4S (=Organic for Surfactants) has been primarily designed to address a critical necessity of the European Natural Cosmetic Sector which is lacking a sustainable source of surfactants (Surface Active Agents) that can be considered natural and are of certified organic origin to meet the growing market demands. This development will provide the natural cosmetic sector with an alternative to replace the current use of chemically-derived surfactants from oleo-chemical feedstocks. One of their main applications is in personal hygiene products representing 40% in volume of the cosmetic ingredients used in the EU. This work will optimize the production of natural bio-surfactants by fermentation to achieve industrial efficiency and economic yields by using organically certified sources (e.g. post harvest loses by-products from primary process). The proposed work offers an opportunity to achieve the full utilization of organically certified raw materials increasing the efficiency of the European Organic Farming Systems. Scientific objectives are: 1) To investigate supply of raw materials from waste streams or by-products to lowers the initial costs; 2) To develop scientific knowledge on the interdependencies of the various process parameters and substrate properties ; 3.)To establish of a database of compound characteristics, stability and performance for suitable applications. Further, the overall technical objectives are to define the characteristics of the product to meet the organic certification standards and the performance requirements for their application in the natural cosmetic industry. This will be followed by the specification, optimization and scale-up of an appropriate industrial bio-process for bio-surfactant production (up to 1 m3 to 10 m3) by developing an integrated fermenting and in-situ removal system. Further, a technology platform for product information, formulation and applications will be created for the benefit of the SME-AG members.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Researchers are developing a natural, organic alternative to chemically derived surfactants for use in cosmetics.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Many personal hygiene products and other cosmetics include chemical compounds known as surfactants. However, the European natural cosmetics sector lacks a sustainable source of natural and organic surfactants.

The EU-funded http://www.organic4surfactants.eu (O4S) project aims to optimise the efficiency and cost of natural surfactant production on an industrial scale. Organically certified raw materials will be sourced from waste streams and the by-products of primary processes.

Researchers began by benchmarking available industrial, bio-based and biological surfactants. The products were evaluated for physical and chemical characteristics, and for their foaming and emulsifying properties.

A fungal strain (Pseudozyma aphidis) able to produce a promising bio-surfactant was then described, and microbial synthesis of a number of surfactants was achieved. For all bio-surfactants produced during the study, researchers again assessed foaming ability, surface tension, purity and water solubility.

The research team also evaluated the downstream processing of surfactants. They found bio-ethanol to be the best option for replacing the petrochemical solvents currently used to purify these compounds.

O4S has already brought scientists much closer to high-performance, low-cost bio-surfactants. Once complete, the project knowledge is expected to impact positively on the cosmetics sector and on European organic farmers.