Recycling and Valorization of Waste
Closing the loop: new value chains inspired by the concept of the marine biorefinery.
Throughout the seafood value chain, the various transformations undergone by products generate waste that is usually discarded. Giving new life to materials that are currently considered waste is a key path towards real sustainability.
The Recycling and Valorization of Waste Research Group (ReVal) works to develop, optimize and scale up new processes aimed at adding new value to effluents and by-products from various sectors of the food industry, such as seafood, aquaculture and fisheries or the agri-food industry.
To do this, the group is inspired by the concept of the "marine biorefinery". This concept seeks to optimize the number and quality of products that can be generated from organic materials from the sea. Gelatins, cartilage, fish protein hydrolysates, marine peptones, chondroitin sulfate, chitin derivatives and bioapatite are just some of the value-added products the group is able to obtain.
In addition, the potential of microorganisms to produce biotechnological compounds is a key tool for ReVal, as they can be used in bioconversion processes to produce probiotics, bacteriocins, lactic acid, enzymes, astaxanthin or hyaluronic acid in different procedures and under various types of operation, while also optimizing the separation and purification stages of microbial metabolites.
Another major step towards sustainability, promoted by this group through experimentation with microorganisms, is the microbiological bioremediation of oil spills in marine environments. The group investigates the application of dispersants and coastal cleaning agents to remove oil adhering to the surface of rocks, a remediation measure that can be applied under safe conditions from an ecotoxicological and environmental point of view.
The group also studies the application of mathematical modeling, both mechanistic and empirical, in different strategies related to chemical and biological processes. Thanks to its thorough knowledge of interactions and transformations within a system, the group can model enzymatic, microbial and animal growth and bioactive responses, as well as complex dose-response relationships.
Members
Adrian Pedreira Bar
Ana Isabel Duran Duran
Francisco Javier (Xavi) Fraguas Cadavid
Jesus Valcarcel Barros
Jose Antonio (Toño) Vazquez Alvarez
Margarita Nogueira Chapela
Maria Araceli Menduiña Santome
