PROJECT R&D+I

TITLE
BIVALBI - BIOTECHNOLOGIES TO VALORISE THE REGIONAL FOOD BIODIVERSITY IN
LATIN AMERICA

HIGHLIGHTS
Identification and characterization of local varieties of traditional foods that are produced
on a large scale in Latin America for the recovery of large quantities of nonconforming
materials and processing residues through the production of high added value products.

ABSTRACT
The global purpose of BiValBi was to identify and characterize local varieties of traditional foods
which are produced at large- scale in Latin American for the valorization of the large amounts of
non-conformity materials and processing wastes through the production of high added-value
products using tailor-made combinations of well established, traditional (bio)-technologies.

The project focused on the recovery, characterization, purification, biotransformation and

encapsulation of high value biomolecules from waste by-products of regional food and food
biodiversity and explored potential application in the development of new functional food or with
extra nutritional properties.

Thus, through a coordinated and structured mobility plan for doctoral students and staff
researchers (and their corresponding associated actions) the project enabled an effective
exchange of knowledge between RTD partners and the corresponding transfer to industrial
companies associated to the partners, both within and between LA and EU areas.

KEYWORDS
Regional Food, Traditional Food, Valorization of Food By-Products, Food Technologies, Added-value Products,
International, Latin America

PROMOTERS / PARTNERS
Escola Superior de Biotecnologia – Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portugal); Universidade de Vigo
(Espanha) (Coordinator); Universidade do Minho (Portugal); The University of Reading (United Kingdom);
Embrapa (Brasil), Universidad Autónoma de Coauhila (México), Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile);
Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina)

FINANCING PROGRAM EXECUTION DATE GLOBAL BUDGET

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES 2013-2016 € 455 700,00

CONTACTS (ESB) E-MAIL PHONE

Manuela Pintado mpintado@porto.ucp.pt +351 22 55 800 00