A leading trade fair for food production technologies, both for processing and bottling & packaging, Anuga Foodtec will be an opportunity for our Group to present and share some innovative projects we are working on, focusing on waste circularity and resources and energy efficiency.
THE PARTNERSHIP WITH HEALLO
Among the projects we are working on there is the partnership with Heallo – an innovative Italian company dedicated to the valorization of plant by-products through the extraction of hypoglycemic soluble fibers, with a focus on the environmental impact. The partnership between the companies has started in 2020 with the aim of translating procedural knowledge into technology, necessary to obtain functional ingredients, designed for preventing chronic diseases caused by wrong eating habits.
Through a 40 hl plant, by-products from large sugar refineries, mills, or breweries such as sugar beets, bran, or brewer’s spent grain are processed, becoming the raw material from which Heallo extracts soluble plant fibers, ensuring complete circularity of the production process.
How is all this achieved?
Through a process of enzymatic hydrolysis in water, functional fibers are released and made soluble. After extraction, the product is first filtered, concentrated, and finally spray dried. At the end of this process, the powdered fiber can be marketed as a functional ingredient to be added to any type of food product containing sugars and/or carbohydrates to reduce their glycemic index.
THE PHOTOBIOREACTOR FOR THE USE OF MICROALGAE
Another innovative technology developed by Omnia Technologies in collaboration with the Università di Padova, is the Photobioreactor. This solution works starting from the food industry waste (such as whey, CO2 output from plants, etc.) and through the use of microalgae it allows the recovery and conversion of such products into valuable once for the food and pharmaceutical industries.
This is a new application of TMCI Padovan‘s expertise that aims to release and make bioavailable functional fibres and antioxidants already present in nature, creating innovative foods and supplements with a high nutraceutical value. The Photobioreactor is fully automatic, with 24/7 production capacity, and enables the cultivation of microalgae through the installation of LED lamps and CO2 diffusers. The machinery is completed by a micronutrient dosing system and pH control, biomass and oxygen concentration. The reactor can be coupled to a filtration/concentration system with membranes – in this way it is possible to produce a pre-concentrated biomass ready for subsequent processing stages. The filtered water, which is completely free of suspended solids, is recirculated in the Photobioreactor, ensuring total circularity. The main advantages offered by the Photobioreactor are: compact and complete system for growing microalgae, production capacity: not influenced by seasonality, level of ambient lighting- – greater efficiency by using artificial light.
BEVERAGES BASED ON PLANTS AND BEYOND
Finally, at the next edition of Anuga we’ll present the solutions dedicated to beverage, dairy and oils & fats industries.
Juices and drinks
From fresh fruit receiving, through all the primary and secondary processing stages, to the bottling, labelling and packaging of the finished product, whether the container is glass, tetrapak, PET, or any other.
Plant-based drinks
The new frontier of soft drinks consumption: innovative high-tech solutions have been developed to meet the ever-increasing market demand.
Water treatment
Water is the starting point for any juice or beverage production process. That is why Omnia Technologies provides complete solutions for water treatment through the use of chemical-physical, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and osmosis plants.