Innovative and sustainable processes for the development of Vitamin D nutraceutical from fish waste: extraction, formulation and clinical study for the evaluation of its bioavailability and clinical equivalence
The bioeconomy represents a model of sustainable and resilient territorial growth that guarantees the recovery of high value-added products from renewable biological resources, such as waste from fishing activities. The project is aimed at using peach waste as the main substrate for the extraction of vitamin D3 for the production or enrichment of nutraceuticals. The two most important forms in which vitamin D can be found are vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol, of vegetable origin) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol, derived from cholesterol and synthesized in animal organisms). Fish waste could be ideal raw materials for the formulation of vitamin D nutraceuticals in a sustainable way, considering the importance of vitamin D in the diet and the high deficiency in the human population (40% in Europe). Fish waste includes the tissues of marine organisms not suitable for human consumption (bones, viscera, heads, skin, tails, etc.) and specimens of commercial species below the minimum size established by regulations to ensure the conservation of marine resources (Minimum Conservation Reference Size, MCRS). Techniques such as microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasonic extraction (UAE) will be the methods developed to obtain vitamin D from fish waste, while biotechnological treatments with proteolytic enzymes and lipases used to have better vitamin D yields.
ITACA addresses the competitiveness of the fisheries sector in the Adriatic by fostering blue innovation and improving the sustainability of fisheries.
To provide key information on the biodiversity and marine ecosystems of the Central Mediterranean Sea - Strait of Sicily, the ecosystem services provided, human activities and pressures due to humans and climate change.
A sampling campaign of study and observations involving marine scientists and citizens in the common effort to produce a series of snapshots from the sea during lockdown.
The research activities of the Institute are carried out in the context of research, development and innovation projects, both national and international, based on regional funding programs (POR FEAMPA - Regional Operational Program of the European Maritime Affairs Fisheries Fund and Aquaculture and POR FESR - Regional Operational Program of the European Regional Development Fund) or ministerial (PRIN - Projects of relevant national interest, PNRA - National Research Program in Antarctica, PO FEAMPA - National Operational Program European Maritime Affairs Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund) , programs for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg), direct funding programs of the European Commission (Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe, Life, JPI - Joint Programming Initiatives, ERA-NET Cofund) and thematic collaboration initiatives managed by international organizations such as, for example , the FAO - GFCM (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean). The Institute also develops funded projects in the context of collaborations with private companies in the sectors of the blue economy as well as technology transfer and research results. Research projects, mainly of a collaborative nature, are developed through a wide network of partners that include major Italian and foreign research institutions and universities.