We are happy and honoured to be part of a wide-ranging international project.

Not many people know that in Europe we have a super production of corn oil because until recently it had a small use as fuel.

Then recent regulations have prevented the use of this combustion oil under a certain roof, so you end up with a large production of corn oil to be used for other applications.

Hence the EXCornsEED project funded by the European community, in which companies from all over Europe, both large and small, each bringing its own specialization.

We use some products from the extraction of corn oil for cosmetic purposes. In this regard, we have created a line called Hina of Rome, developing formulas specifically addressed to urban populations that live the environmental pollution inconveniences of big cities every day.

THE EXCornsEED PROJECT: HOW IT'S BORNED

The EXCornsEED project aims to exploit the convergence between science, chemistry, biology, engineering and biotechnology for the creation of new knowledge and innovative applications, with the main objective to develop and validate an integrated process of innovative and highly sustainable extraction/purification/concentration technologies to be applied to the side streams of biorefineries (i.e. Maize oil/thin grain oil from bioethanol and rape seed flour from biodiesel production) for the recovery of proteins and various other bioactive compounds (peptides, polyphenols, amino acids, fibers, lipid compounds, alkaloids and tannins, etc.) and the characterization/preparation of these as ingredients for the food market, special products and cosmetics (Fig. 1).

The project stems from a solid industrial vision defined by ENV and other industrial partners to transform traditional bioethanol production into the future biorefinery concept, fully in line with EU strategies for a better bioeconomy. The simultaneous presence of technology experts from the biotechnology manufacturer ENV (project promoter), SAP, CEL and ICE, and the product companies SIAL, NUT, BZN and DRLAURANNE guarantees the commitment to a truly market-oriented project. A synergistic approach will be used to define a self-sustainable system and have a result that is in line with the principles of the circular economy.