The webinar organized by Agrifood CLUST-ER’s SPES Value Chain on November 14 2025 presented innovations in new biotechnologies for food by-product valorization.
The institutional opening by Marco Foschini (CLUST-ER) highlighted the European Union’s push toward by-product valorization and the role of clusters as catalysts for research and interregional cooperation. Several CLUST-ER members then presented cases of interest. Professor Francesca Accardo (University of Parma)’s presentation of the “Waste for Soil” project concerned the valorization of food and agro-industrial waste through enzymatic hydrolysis and low-impact processes, with the aim of obtaining soil improvers and protein hydrolysates compatible with organic farming standards.
Massimo Fusai, from the leading Italian poultry transformer Amadori, emphasized the need to transform livestock waste (particularly sewage sludge and SOA2) into agronomic resources capable of creating added value through modern and sustainable processes.
Niccolò Bassi from the SME “Biosyntex” presented a model based on controlled fermentation of microalgae, particularly Chlorella vulgaris, to obtain standardized and effective biostimulants. This technology allows the use of different types of agri-food waste for algal growth; the algae are rich in bioactive molecules that are released through cell wall disruption. The result is a product capable of acting on physiological mechanisms involved in nutrient uptake, root growth, and stress tolerance. Microalgae can also be used as functional ingredients in livestock production, especially in swine and poultry systems. The biostimulant Alglift, applicable both via foliar spray and fertigation, has shown yield increases in durum wheat, tomato, and other crops, in addition to reducing disease incidence in cereals and enhancing root systems.
The presentation positioned microalgal biotechnologies within a broader vision of agri-food sustainability, including prospects for the production of new protein hydrolysates, seed-coating products, and the use of wastewater and by-products as fermentation substrates within a circular economy model.
The webinar concluded with a Q&A session. It will soon be available (in Italian) on Clust-ER’s YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@clust-eragrifood.
