NutrAge2

NutrAge 2 is a CNR project with significant scientific importance. Its strategic objective is to enhance the quality of life of the elderly population through nutrition. The project aims to expand knowledge on the common and specific bases of ageing and the potential of agro-food products to boost natural defences and possibly prevent and/or mitigate damage induced by the ageing process by adopting a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approach.

The IC will conduct untargeted metabolomics analyses on waste or by-products of cultivated plants to identify supply chain matrices with a high content of bioactive compounds. In addition, extraction and purification technologies will be developed and optimised for the recovery and valorisation of bioactive molecules through the synthesis and use of natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES), an environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional organic solvents, and the functional properties of the extracts will be characterised through in vitro biochemical assays. Furthermore, microalgal biomass will be utilised for the sustainable extraction of bio-polysaccharides to stabilise and control the release of phyto-complexes.

These IC activities are part of WP2 of the project: Green and sustainable technologies for the development of agri-food chains with high health value.