Advanced biotechnological processes will allow the production of cosmetic and detergent products and food supplements from fruit and vegetable waste

The ITENE research center will produce microbial hyaluronic acids (MHAs), probiotics, postbiotic compounds and bioactive plant extracts. 

The ITENE research center is working on the development of different biotechnological processes to obtain sustainable raw materials for the development of formulations for cosmetic products, food supplements and detergent products through the valorisation of agro-food waste and by-products. 

This research is part of the ESENCIAL 2024 project, carried out between January and December of this year with funding from the Generalitat through the Regional Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism by means of grants to research institutes for innovation projects in collaboration with companies in the framework of smart specialisation during the 2024 financial year and the S3-CV strategy. Specifically, the objective is to obtain high added value products from organic waste and to offer sustainable, vegan and biodegradable compounds for formulations for the cosmetics, detergency and nutraceutical sectors. 

The head of the project at ITENE, Ana Mencher, explained that, ‘European, national and regional policies promote the extraction or production of resources through organic waste to promote the circular economy, so obtaining them through sustainable processes is attractive for different sectors’. ‘Biological processes associated with the production of biomolecules of interest represent an interesting alternative given their low costs, low energy consumption and low wastewater production’.    

Through ESENCIAL 2024, ITENE will focus on the development of biotechnological processes for obtaining microbial hyaluronic acids (MHAs), polymers with different medical and cosmetic applications. The moisturising, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulant, healing and anti-acne properties of microbial hyaluronic acids mean that they have a wide variety of applications in the cosmetics industry.  

These will be produced by culturing microorganisms, which will allow more sustainable compounds to be obtained that do not involve toxic compounds or other risks that can be associated with those of animal origin. Improved microbial strains with adaptive evolution will be used to increase production yields and improve the specificity of the process. 

Likewise, food supplements for dietetics will be obtained: probiotics, postbiotic compounds with the quality and purity requirements demanded by the nutraceutical sector. These compounds are in great demand in the nutraceutical industry due to their benefits for gastrointestinal health.  

In addition, work will be carried out on the optimisation and scaling up of processes for obtaining and purifying bioactive extracts of plant origin from agri-food waste. Bioactive extracts are found in plants and foods such as fruits and vegetables and have functions in the body that can promote good health. They also have high added value and can be used in nutraceuticals, cosmetics and detergents.   

Subsequently, the products generated will be validated for their proposed industrial uses and their application in new cosmetic, nutraceutical and/or detergency formulations.   

This research is part of the work developed by ITENE to promote the valorisation of organic waste in order to obtain new sustainable raw materials through industrial biotechnology. In this way, the aim is to offer solutions to the industry to meet the sustainability objectives and to valorise its waste and by-products, contributing to a circular economy approach.