Our project at a glimpse
Studying the wheat microbiome for a healthier and more sustainable food production system
The WHEATBIOME is divided into 8 different Work Packages
Work Packages
wheatbiome work packages
Leader: Universidade do Porto
O1.1. Determine the effect of different agricultural practices on soils, microbiomes and nutritional quality of wheat crops, and the interrelation between these factors.
O1.2. Generate insight into annual variation of nutritional and molecular composition of wheat grain.
O1.3. Determine the physical and chemical composition of soil in the different wheat cultivation patches from the case studies.
Leader: ART21
O2.1. Correlate the metabolic and proteomic profiles of the wheat plants with the microbial communities present in the wheat crop, the wheat genotype, the edaphoclimatic conditions and the agricultural practices.
O2.2. Confirm the interrelation between changes in microbial communities (due to biotic/abiotic factors) and their effect on wheat crop attributes.
O2.3. Deliver a decision support system (DSS, distributed as a digital app) to help wheat farmers in decision-making towards agricultural practices and systems that are healthier, more sustainable and effective (i.e., more resilient).
O2.4. Determine the perception of the European food system actors related to soil and plant microbiomes and the potentialities/limitations of the EU food system to offer sustainable and healthy food and feed products.
Leader: Universitat de València
O3.1. Select, isolate and cultivate new microorganism for food production by fermentation.
O3.2. Develop new fermentation processes that deliver healthy and sustainable wheat-based food products.
O3.3. Determine the nutritional value, food quality and safety of the novel fermented food products.
O3.4. Reveal the molecular binding between food components as a novel tool to predict the organoleptic properties (i.e., texture-emulsion ability).
Leader: REQUIMTE
O4.1. Evaluate the digestibility and bioaccessibility of the developed fermented food products.
O4.2. Study the impact of the developed products on the intestinal function (anti-inflammatory status, leakage) and human microbiota (both oral and intestinal microbiota).
O4.3. Evaluate the (positive) effect of novel fermented wheat-based food products on human health.
O4.4. Assess the acceptability of consumers of the developed products.
O4.5. Assess the consumers’ perception of risk and acceptance of novel plant-based fermented food concepts.
Leader: IBPRS
O5.1. Design and development of new formulation for poultry feed via fermentation by means of recircularization of wheat by-products and other suitable waste/by-products from food industries.
O5.2. Determine the best parameters of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) culture starters and feed fermentations.
O5.3. Assess the quality (chemical composition and nutrient characteristics) and safety of these novel feed materials.
O5.4. Validate the positive impact of new fermented feed products on poultry (animal health) and the improve in animal product quality (eggs, poultry meat).
Leader: Contactica
O6.1. Analyse the potential environmental sustainability of applying microbial communities to crop production.
O6.2. Evaluate the environmental impacts and assess the economic feasibility of new microbiome-based products.
O6.3. Identify environmental and economic hotspots and benefits of innovative fermented food and feed products
Leader: Contactica
O7.1. Provide a main framework for all communications, dissemination and exploitation activities, ensuring coherence, and presenting a strong project image to external stakeholders, target audiences (actors of the food system) and to the general public (citizens).
O7.2. Train actors of the food systems in the proper use of microorganism as bioregulator and producers of new sustainable and healthy food products.
O7.3. Enable synergies between European projects and facilitate knowledge exchange between different stakeholders in different European regions.
O7.4. Develop an exploitation plan for intellectual property management and possible business plans.
Leader: REQUIMTE
O8.1. Establish a strong organizational structure to achieve effective and result-driven management.
O8.2. Ensure goals and objectives are clearly defined and visible throughout the project.
O8.3. Monitor progress among planned activities and issue corrective actions as necessary.
O8.4. Setup active administrative and technical management during the project life, ensuring timely delivery of reports to the EC and efficient financial management.