Valorizzazione dei sottoprodotti e dei residui di vinificazione tramite estrazione e produzione di molecole ad alto valore aggiunto

Wine-making process generates a substantial volume of solid by-products which are produced in a limited period of the year and have some pollutant characteristics that complicate their management. The recent reform of the Common Market Organization for Wine (CR 479/2008), together with the recent economical crisis, more demanding consumer trends, the competition of New World producers and the uncertainties caused by climate changes will put out of business about 18% of EU winegrowing small and medium enterprises by 2012. The increase of margins to spend on promotion, market research and product development is therefore fundamental for the survival of wine-makers. The possibility of valorising oenological by-products for the production of high-added value compounds with broad food and food applications would at the same time provide an extra income for wine makers and reduce the environmental impact of such wastes. In order to be realistically implemented at industrial scale, a recovery strategy should be set-up following an integrated approach that finally leads to the development of a system in which the by-products are completely converted to new products/ingredients/additives with economic-efficient and environmental-friendly technologies and then used for new applications. The experimental work will involve the development of a complete recovery strategy for all the main wine-making wastes: stalks, skins and seeds. The final high-added value products will be cellulose, lignin, sugars and phenolic extracts. Innovative applications (both food and non food) of the recovered products will be investigated with the final aim of drafting a product catalogue to present to end-users industries as well as chemical industries. Recovery processes will be optimised through a detailed economic and environment analyses. The developed catalogue and optimised technologies will be the key for a successful implementation of the achieved results. We then expect that VALORVITIS will contribute to advance the state of the art of knowledge in the utilization of agro-food by products (since the experimental approach can be applied to other sectors than wine) and will contribute to increase competitiveness of wine-makers.