Hot from the press!
2020-05-25
As part of the Interreg Bio4safe project, the pilot ‘Biorefinery’ took place in February. The aim of this pilot was to determine the feasibility of using cultivated seaweeds for biostimulant products using press technology.
Seaweed based biostimulants can reduce the use of fertilizer in European horticulture. Noordzeeboerderij works towards a large-scale seaweed supply chain, and this pilot contributes to the exploration of new processing technologies for seaweed biostimulants.
It was a great success: in total, 1.000 kg of the cultivated Saccharina latissima has been pressed using the industrial grass press. By pressing, the liquid and dry matter of the seaweed were separated. From this liquid matter, French seaweed biostimulant producer Algaia has produced a biostimulant that is used in the Bio4safe 2020 field trials!
Many members of Noordzeeboerderij contributed to this result: Ocean Rain Forest supplied cultivated Saccharina latissimi, Rhinetech hosted and operated the press and various parties from throughout the seaweed value chain offered advice and expertise. This pilot gives the first indication whether press technology can be used as a processing technique. As a consequence, it potentially increases the supply towards the production of seaweed based biostimulants.
Keen to get into the details? Download the report here!
Are you a member of the Seaweed Platform? Read an exclusive version of the report on My Seaweed.
