Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DEMICROCAROB (DEVELOPMENT AND MARKET UPTAKE OF AN INNOVATIVE TYPE OF MICRONIZED DEHYDRATED CAROB)

Teaser

Superfoods are increasingly popular according to industry sources; 56% of European consumers use superfoods to improve their health with food or drink. Currently, consumers are much more conscious and aware about health and many share the perception that the onset of many...

Summary

Superfoods are increasingly popular according to industry sources; 56% of European consumers use superfoods to improve their health with food or drink. Currently, consumers are much more conscious and aware about health and many share the perception that the onset of many chronic diseases can be prevented with the proper intake of nutritious diet. Functional foods and supplements are not only being consumed for just meeting the recommended dietary allowance but also as a mechanism for performance enhancement and disease prevention. In addition to the above-mentioned changes, consumers’ preference has now undergone a paradigm shift from synthetic ingredients toward natural and organic foods, beverages and supplements. Present day’s consumers are more informed, and this could be attributed to current day media, which keeps consumers abreast of the latest scientific developments in health and wellness. Consumers are now moving towards food products that are obtained from natural non-genetically modified organism extracts.

Carobs are cultivated mainly in Mediterranean countries, particularly Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Morocco and Turkey, which together account for approximately 92% of the global production Nowadays carob market is focused on the products generated from carob seed, deeming carob pulp as a low-value product using in animal feed. However, raw carob pulp is considered as “superfood” due to their bioactive components and their beneficial properties for health: antioxidant, energetic, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, antidiahorrea, antihyperlipidemia, etc. In fact, carob is included in the priority list of wild-collected medicinal and aromatic plants as novel food.

Carob is directly collected from the ground when harvested, which implies it being contaminated by several microorganisms; therefore a further specific treatment is needed to stabilise its microbiological profile, to be able to commercialise it at a food level. Currently only ‘roasted carob flour’ is used directly for human consumption, however the ‘high temperature roasting process’ has a negative effect in the product altering its bioactive and nutritional properties (a reduction of total phenolic content and the total antioxidant activity). Raw carob pulp is used directly in animal feed, which means that the beneficial properties of raw carob pulp are not being exploited for human food.

PEDRO PEREZ MARTÍNEZ is a SME located in Valencia (Spain), dedicated exclusively to the production and processing of carob. The mission of the company is to produce “high added value” products from the carob pulp. The company has more than 40 years of experience in the carob market and an international implementation, commercializing carob worldwide.

PEDRO PÉREZ MARTÍNEZ, has developed an innovative process to obtain raw carob pulp suitable for human consumption and with the particle size required by the market.

The purpose of DEMICROCAROB project is to develop and commercialise a new natural ingredient with functional properties (antioxidant, energetic, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, gluten free, etc.) from carob pulp. DEMICROCAROB project will commercialise raw carob flour (superfood) as an ingredient in functional food, sport food, diabetic food, coeliac food, vegan food and food supplements markets.

Work performed

The work carried out during the first year of the project includes the execution of several activities of the several work packages of the project. The several WPs of this project are:

CONSTRUCTION OF PRE-PRODUCTION PROTOTYPE: The acquiring, mounting and commissioning the equipment and machinery needed for the pre-production of DEMICROCAROB.
PLANT OPERATION FINE-TUNNING. The adjustment of the optimum variables of the pre-production line was carried out.

Final results

DEMICROCAROB will boost the harvesting of a dry farming and resistant to fire tree such as carob tree. Moreover, and thanks to the large CO2 fixation capacity of carob tree, DEMICROCAROB will address climate change. DEMICROCAROB project will save 81,411 tCO2ea/year.

DEMICROCAROB will revalue the by-product of carob industry (carob pulp). DEMICROCAROB will be also a high value product regarding benefits and properties and will revalue the carob sector.

DEMICROCAROB will develop a more sustainable management of soil and water, since it will revalue carob crops addressing the present water shortage, since carob tree is a dry farming tree very resistant to water scarcity. In particular, DEMICROCAROB will allow the harvesting of 5234ha of cultivated carob with a reduced water demand of 350L/m2. The carob tree no fertilizing and is very resistant to pests and plagues, so it is considered as an environmentally friendly carob crop since no chemicals are used to grow the carob fruit.

DEMICROCAROB will test, demonstrate and scale-up new innovative technologies to produce a new functional superfood to be introduced in the emergent superfood market through a consistent business plan.

DEMICROCAROB will support rural communities, since it will promote the relationship with the local farmers -carob suppliers- boosting carob crop in rural areas of European Union. Particularly, DEMICROCAROB will set new relationships with local carob farmers, promoting the carob value chain in a rural and coastal area such as the Valencian Community and will promote new partnerships with distribution companies

DEMICROCAROB will develop a new value chain for rural economies based on carob sector since DEMICROCAROB will help to harvest 125.714 carob trees. Therefore, it will encourage the rural economy of the region.

DEMICROCAROB will produce a nutrient-rich product with beneficial properties for health.

DEMICROCAROB product will be produced from an environmentally friendly tree, since it will save 81.441tCO2eq/year

DEMICROCAROB will empower carob crop farmer communities because it will boost the relationship with the carob crop farmer communities, since 5.234ha of carob crops will be needed to supply the project with enough raw material for an annual production.

Website & more info

More info: https://www.ppmsl.com/desarrollo-e-introduccion-en-el-mercado-de-demicrocarob/.