iBB

Carla C. C. R. de Carvalho, Kilian Neves and Sebastião Tavares participated in the annual meeting of project Yum Algae, funded by programme Blue Growth of EEA Grants. The Yum Algae researchers from Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, and Pagarete Solutions, met at NORCE facilities in Bergen, Norway. The results presented are very promising to improve the sensory quality of microalgae ingredients in foods such as bread and cheese. Future actions were planned for the scale up of the process.

Consumer acceptance of microalgae products is often hampered by their colour, “fishy” smell and flavor. An international project with research teams from ISA (PI Prof. Anabela Raymundo), IST (Carla de Carvalho, iBB-BERG), Norce (Norway) and the company Pagarete Microalgae solutions (Portugal) is aimed at the use of enzymes to improve the overall sensory quality of microalgal ingredients. The project, entitled “YUM ALGAE - enzYmes for improved sensory qUality of MicroALGAE ingredients in foods”, is funded in ca. 1 million euros by the Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway grants (EEA grants, Blue Growth programme).

The Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Bjørnar Selnes Skjæran, the Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, and the Embassador in Lisbon Tove Bruvik Westberg, visited the Instituto Superior de Agronomia as promotor of projects funded by EEA grants. Anabela Raymundo and Cristiana Nunes (LEAF-ISA), Carla de Carvalho (iBB-IST) and António Pagarete (Pagarete Microalgae Solutions) presented the collaborations they have had with Norwegian research groups including the project Yum Algae. This projects aims at finding enzymes to improve the sensory quality of microalgae ingredients in foods and during the visit several products, such as bread, cheese and ice cream containing microalgae, were tasted. The visit also included members of the “Unidade Nacional de Gestão” of EEA Grants and of “Direção Geral de Política do Mar”.