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The overall objective of Stance4Health EU H2020 project is to develop Stance4Health will develop a complete Smart Personalised Nutrition (SPN) service in an interdisciplinary approach through the exchange of knowledge and methods of different disciplines (i.e. nutrition food sciences, nutrition-health sciences, consumer science-social anthropology-psychology, economics and computer sciences, among others) via shared knowledge-interactions. Based on the use of mobile technologies as well as tailored food production that will optimize the gut microbiota activity and long-term consumer engagement. Stance4Health will also increase the health status and well-being of individuals by adopting a longlasting healthy and sustainable dietary behaviour. A huge innovation capacity will be enhanced by creating new market opportunities and bringing other important benefits to the European society from the Circular Economy and the Digitisiting European Industry Focus Areas.

The main goal of the ELBE-NH (Increased effectiveness of lignin-biorefineries by valorization of hydrolysates) project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany, is the utilization of the by-products of lignocellulosic biorefinery as high valuable compounds. One of the targeted compounds selected is propionic acid (PA) (obtained by microbiological conversion of the hydrolysates). PA is particularly suitable for use in industrially produced bread and baked goods, for preservation (antifungal abilities) as free acid or as sodium/calcium salts. Due to its astringent smell and strong acid taste, PA is rarely used in the food industry as a free acid. Our aim is to test the possibility of (a) using encapsulated hydrophilic PA (0.3% w/v) in β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)/maltodextrin blends as the wall materials (19:1 or 17:3% w/v), spray-dried as additives incorporated directly into texture-defined bread products, and (b) incorporating it into polysaccharide-based (e.g., carboxymethylcellulose (2% w/v) or chitosan (2% w/v)) biodegradation-resistant edible film (as carriers of PA antimicrobial agent (1.5–15% w/v)) with/without addition of β-CD (5% w/v) to the film matrix, as packaging material to enhance the safety and shelf life of texture-defined bread products. The benefit of adding β-CD during film preparation consists in the forming of hydrogen bond interactions with PA, resulting in high amounts of PA encapsulation due to the “fully immersed” complexation phenomenon. The texture-defined bread is a bread with a soft, gel-like structure that is easy to swallow and can be consumed without chewing, intended for people suffering from swallowing and chewing disorders. The texture-defined bread will have a high protein content that is up to 15% higher than that of conventional bread and can thus make an important contribution to combating malnutrition.

The main purpose of the GRAIL EU Project is to find out a viable process, and related technology, aimed at exploiting the “crude glycerol” (at the present by-product from biodiesel production, having no more economic interest ), as a novel valuable feedstock for bio-fuels / bio-chemicals, such as 1,3 propanediol, Fatty acid glycerol formal esters, PolyHydroxyAlkanoates (PHA), Hydrogen and Ethanol, Synthetic coatings, powder coating resins, Secondary Glycerol Amine, Biobutanol, EPA, Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), AŸ-carotene, Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

The EU funded ENTHALPY project aims to significantly reduce the consumption of water and energy in milk powder production to increase efficiency in the dairy production chain. Using a systematic approach, ENTHALPY project focusses on innovations within the post-harvest chain representing the highest energy and water consumption such as RF heating, solar thermal energy, mono-disperse atomising, dryer modelling, inline monitoring, enzymatic cleaning and membrane technology

Tannins are secondary metabolites of plants, polymers consisting mainly of glycosides, found in nature as hydrolysable tannins or condensed tannins, as well as a combination of them. In the European H2020 funded Stance4Health project, one of the objective is to develop special tannin extracts (from chestnut wood, quebracho wood, oak wood, tara pods, chinese gallnuts) with differential effects on the gut microbiota and human health, aiming for a personalised modulation of gut microbiota activity at the individual level. The tannins will be extracted by means of water, ethanol or water-ethanol mixtures at different ratios. Novel dietary supplements enriched with different tannin extracts in order to exert novel biological activities, will be produced in an individualised manner, being the entry step in the European Food Sector for personalised nutrition. Due to their astringency and bitter flavor, will be define how the bitterness can be modify by coating the bitter‐tasting tannins extracted using alginate or gum-like or combination of maltodextrin-gum Arabic (ratio of 40:60 (w/w)) formulas to form double-phase emulsion micro-encapsulation or using the spray-dry method to obtain HPMC particles with tannins. The final product targeted is a powder form that can be easily re-dispersed in water for personalization at individual level. Besides, it is well-known their antioxidant, antimicrobial (increase the shelf-life of foods) and antibacterial (inhibitor to foodborne bacteria) effects, and therefore their application as food enhancements and food preservatives it is of high importance due to their protective nature. Acknowledgement. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 816303 (STANCE4HEALTH).