Oil-rich seeds as their name suggested have been exploited mostly for their oil; however, a treasure of valuable proteins, fibers, and micronutrients (i.e., powerful antioxidants) are inside of these seeds. In the case of the proteins, 14 million Tons of valuable canola proteins are escaping the food supply chain every year to feed; and similar for the fiber components including the valuable canola micronutrients. “At Cano-ela™ we are proposing a novelty route to process oil-rich seeds, specifically canola seeds. The use of mild fractionation conditions enables us to use the seeds into innovative non-refined ingredients; whose functional impurities can help food companies to clean their label.” In addition, all ingredients will be fit for human consumption and thereby contributing to the global protein transition.
“During this TTT we have run our proof of concept (patented lab-scale process) to pilot size (from 500 g to 50 Kg), with the full support of WFBR. These have helped us to validate the process, while getting a more realistic mass balance, evaluate the characteristics of our ingredients produced at a larger scale, produce larger quantities of our ingredients (50 kg), and to determine the key R&D path for further implementation.”
“We are currently working together with our potential B2B customers on the development and performance evaluation of our ingredients. Moreover, the production and delivery of the different ingredients have helped us to fine-tune our value proposition as well as validate the market for our 3 different ingredients. The main output of this work package can be seen in our brand-new brochure.”
“Finally, we will obtain a techno-economic feasibility study that will give us a good overview of the CAPEX and OPEX of our process and this will allow us to polish our Business Model and future Investment Requirements.”
“We are very thankful to the sponsors of this voucher as well as with the technical experts from WFBR who have contributed tremendously with our progress. Cano-ela™ hopes to keep scaling-up and contribute to a more sustainable, locally grown and nutritious food system.”