Innovation: ENEA at Maker Faire 2023 with superfoods and other solutions for food and sustainability

Baked foods with high added value obtained from agri-food waste, urban gardens to grow indoors without pesticides and with minimal use of energy and water, protein flours from insects, together with advanced solutions to reduce waste and guarantee safety and quality in the agri-food sector. These are some of the technologies and solutions that ENEA presents at Maker Faire Rome 2023, the European event on technological innovation and digital transformation, where researchers, innovators, students and families meet to share ideas and solutions between creativity, research and technology (Fair of Roma, 20 22-October 2023, 10am-19pm, via Portuense 1645-1647).

In addition to presenting the most recent innovations in the agri-food and circular bioeconomy fields, in this edition entitled “Innovators like us”, organized by the Rome Chamber of Commerce, ENEA will participate in the competition “MY Maker PCBA: your electronics for a better planet”, which will reward the best electronics projects for quality of life and environmental sustainability.

In detail, ENEA's presence in stands P890, P863 and P841:

• Baking superfoods with high added value made with the use of ingredients rich in proteins and bioactive molecules obtained from residual fractions of the agri-food industry - whey, oilseeds and brewer's grains - thanks to membrane technologies and CO extraction₂ supercritical (PROVIDE project – PRotein and biOmolecules sources for nutritional security and biodiVersity of bakery products in a circular food system);
• processes to produce foods and feeds with high protein content, natural fertilizers, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products from a particular beetle, the Tenebrio molitor;
• activities to improve the quality, safety and traceability of food e valorise agro-industrial by-products;
• advanced solutions to guarantee greater food production, reduce waste, optimize the use of natural resources and improve the quality and productivity of the agri-food system. In particular, ENEA researchers will present activities for the valorisation of agro-industrial by-products, the development of models for sustainable nutrition, but also the production of molecules with high added value in vegetable production systems (ON-FOODS Extended Partnership, National Center AGRITECH);
• METROFOOD, the research infrastructure to strengthen scientific excellence in the field of food quality, safety and traceability with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of diet and food choices on the individual and the environment, increasing their sustainability;
• SUS-MIRRI.IT, the research infrastructure for the valorization of ENEA's microbial resources (microorganisms, microbiomes and derived products) aimed at innovative solutions and products of biotechnological interest (biofertilizers, biopesticides, antimicrobials, biomass, enzymes and drugs);
• plant cell agriculture, innovative supply systems for foods of plant origin in view of the effects of climate change - which already affect the productivity and health of some varieties of agronomic interest - and applications of "3D printing" in the food sector. Specifically, ENEA has developed a series of "recipes" for the creation of standardized foods with high added value;
• a special "hitech garden“, the Microcosm, for the cultivation of plants such as basil, tomato, lettuce and potatoes in indoor but also “extreme” places, such as desert and polar areas, without the use of pesticides and with minimal waste of energy and resources. It is an innovative prototype of “smart agriculture” equipped with sensors to control environmental parameters and a LED light system that provides precision lighting to the plants;
• innovative processes for producing feed, bioplastics, new biodegradable materials, soil improvers e advanced biofuels from the so-called black soldier flies, insects whose larvae are fed with waste from the agri-food industry. During growth, the larvae are able to bioconvert organic substrates, transforming them into molecules such as lipids, proteins and polysaccharides which can find application in the feed industry, energy, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and textiles (Hermes Project).

The event "What skills and training objectives for the future of the agrifood sector" will take place on Friday 20 October from 14pm to 30pm, with the intervention of Claudio Roveda (Fondazione Creativi italiani), Maurizio Notarfonso (ENEA), Alice Cappucci ( ITS of Grosseto), Luca Polizzano (Lazio Innova) Carlo Hausmann (Agro Camera), Elisa Tomassi (Confagricoltura).

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