PRIMA – Section 1 – Thematic Area 3-Agri-food value chain 2022 Topic 1.3.1-2022 (IA) Alternative protein sources for the Mediterranean food value chain. From production, extraction, processing and marketing, to societal acceptance
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
PRIMA – Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area is the most ambitious joint programme to be undertaken in the frame of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.
The overall objective of the PRIMA programme is to build research and innovation capacities and to develop knowledge and common innovative solutions for agro-food systems, to make them sustainable, and for integrated water provision and management in the Mediterranean area, to make those systems and that provision and management more climate resilient, efficient, cost-effective and environmentally and socially sustainable, and to contribute to solving water scarcity, food security, nutrition, health, well-being and migration problems upstream.
Call
Summary
Alternative proteins from different origins and new sources (terrestrial and aquatic) should be considered for animal feed and direct human consumption, considering the possible religious and cultural resistance.
Food based on microbial fermentation – possibly inspired from traditional fermented Mediterranean foods – could be considered a lever to improve food bio-preservation, nutrition need, food security and acceptability. Thus, strategies to tackle or adapt to eventual cultural and religious barriers and resistances towards the “EU Novel foods”, should be developed to increase social acceptance.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should thus address all potential sources of alternative proteins such as, but not limited to, traditional alternative protein sources mainly of plants origin (such as legume seeds, cassava or moringa leaves, etc.) and those that fall under the EU Novel food (e.g. protein concentrates from oilseeds cakes, fungal mycelia, micro-algae, insects, etc.) and others derived from production processes such as food wastes, agro‐industrial by‐products or fermented foods by microorganisms. Food based on microbial fermentation – possibly inspired from traditional fermented Mediterranean foods – could be considered a lever to improve food bio-preservation, nutrition need, food security and acceptability.
For all cases, aspects related to sensory quality (e.g., flavour acceptance) should be considered. The consumers’ needs and motivation towards including novel food protein in their diets should be evaluated.
Also, applicants should propose the more appropriate formulations and presentations of the final products in different forms, e.g., food, feed, extracts, powders, capsules, food supplements, ingredients and additives. The functionality of these novel proteins should be demonstrated by in vitro studies (possibly in vivo animal or human clinical trials) to prove their safety, including the absence of allergenicity. In addition, the nutritional benefits should be evaluated by measuring bio-accessibility and bioavailability of nutrients and by estimating the presence of antinutritional factors. The sensory and techno-functional qualities of the new products prepared with alternative proteins should also be evaluated.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
The funding rate is 70%, except for non-profit legal entities in which case the funding rate is 100%.
PRIMA considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU in the range of € 4,100,000.
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Rural development
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- Large Enterprises
- Local Authorities
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
Legal entities established in the following countries and territories will be eligible to receive funding through PRIMA grants: Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Tunisia and Turkey.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
George Prokopiou
Email: gprokopiou@research.org.cy
Τel: +357 22205068
(Publish Date: 26/01/2022-for internal use only)
EU Contact Point
For questions related to this call for proposals, please contact Fabrice Dentressangle at fabrice.dentressangle@prima-med.org