Polizime-Pilofunction project will offer new alternatives for feed formulation

A few weeks ago took place the kick-off meeting of Polizime-Pilofunction, a project funded by the State Research Agency under the call for public-private collaboration projects 2022, which includes the participation of the BETA Technology Center of the UVic-UCC. On the private side, the consortium includes the companies Global Feed, SLU (project coordinators) and Fertinagro Biotech, SL. Its objective is to jointly investigate new ways to improve the digestibility of some products intended for animal feed, as well as to offer more economical alternatives to the production of microorganisms used in agriculture, two very relevant aspects for the industrial sectors involved.

Feed formulation is essential for the correct nutrition of animals, since it has a direct influence on factors such as animal welfare, product quality or the costs associated with their feeding. Improving the digestibility of some of these products would expand the range of possible components that can be part of the feed, in some cases opening the door to more economical options. In the same way, being able to count on alternative sources to obtain useful microorganisms for agriculture is a way to reduce the current dependence on classic first-generation sugars and to diversify the raw materials to obtain them.

The approach proposed in this project seeks to address these concerns through the use of enzymes capable of hydrolyzing lignocellulosic materials, so that some renewable sources of biomass from the agri-food industry may be more suitable. Polizime-Pilofunction aims to identify and test safe microorganisms capable of producing these enzymes using solid-state fermentation technology.