Delegates from OXIPRO’s coordinating organisation NORCE recently participated in the Bioflavour Conference, held this year from 27th – 30th of September in Frankfurt, Germany.
Over 150 participants from more than 17 countries represented different industries, research institutes and universities at the conference, which was organised to bring recent biotechnological developments in the synthesis and production of flavour, fragrance, and functional compounds. The production and analysis of these compounds were discussed in the form of scientific talks and posters which structured the event into categories like microbial production and cell factories, bioprocess engineering and downstream processing, systems and synthetic biology, olfaction and taste perception, enzymes and biocatalysis, fermentation for advanced foods and beverages. It was emphasised that there is a great scope to produce these aromatic, flavour, and functional compounds using enzymes and microorganisms, especially via fermentation design, computation tools to discover and engineer the enzymes, yeast strain developments all of these were highlighted for the flavour and fragrance applications. Also, advanced sensors and analytical methods were designed to analyse and detect these compounds. It was obvious that many industries are driven towards sustainability and waste management, to utilise and reuse the carbon, nitrogen, and functional compound from the industrial side streams into process, and as a feed component for aquatic species.
Coordinator of OXIPRO and group leader at NORCE Dr. Gro Bjerga presented a poster about ongoing work and recent results and was invited to provide a flash poster presentation during the conference. Bjerga presented a novel enzyme strategy to remediate trimethylamine, a fish odour contributor, from salmon protein hydrolysates. OXIPRO partner GECCO was also present at the conference. Overall, the meeting was highly informative and opened networking opportunities with EU and non-EU researchers/industries. The conference ended with a guided walk tour to Eberbach Monastery and a cruise along the Rhine river.
Images: (top) Bioflavour delegates; (bottom left) Dr Gro Bjerga delivers her presentation; (bottom right) Dr Gro Bjerga networks with delegates at the Bioflavour Conference