Projects
Anne Grete Kongsted , Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe , Lisbeth Mogensen , Lene Juul Pedersen , Margrethe Therkildsen , Jacinta D. Bus , Emma Hvidtfeldt Jensen , Line Dinesen Jensen , Rikke Thomsen , Mikkel P. Hesselager , Emil Fonager , Hans Henrik Thomsen & Kirsten Rasmussen
The goal of QUALIPORK is to strengthen the competitiveness of Danish organic pork in national and global markets by promoting multidimensional quality from 'farm to fork'. The project aims to achieve this by exploring, developing, and demonstrating an alternative to the current organic slaughter pig production. A central focus is to offer pigs stimulus-rich free-range environments and seasonal foraging crops. This is expected to promote animal welfare (quality of pig life), reduce the climate footprint, and optimize feed supply and nutrient cycling in the field (quality of the environment).
The quality of the pork is improved through on-field slaughter and meat maturation (quality of pork). Barriers and opportunities for communicating these quality parameters are identified in both national and global value chains. The project acknowledges the practical difficulties of keeping slaughter pigs free-range and therefore develops specialized free-range equipment and a decision support tool to make operations more efficient.Description
01/04-2025 → 31/03-2029
Jette F Young , Lotte Bach Larsen & Nina Aagaard Poulsen
Within the next 5-10 years it is expected that cell-based food production will reach price parity and hit the mass market. Thus, it is important to create a value chain for a new Danish industry of food grade growth media at industrial scale. The task is complex, long lasting, goes across science disciplines and technologies. Thus, this Network will mobilize and bring together the Danish resource baseDescription
01/09-2025 → 31/08-2027
Jette F Young & Martin Krøyer Rasmussen
Food culture in Europe is deeply influenced by meat dishes. Currently up to 58% of protein per capita/day in Europe derives from animal agriculture. Globally an increase of 1.4% per year can be expected until 2031. To this end, alternative protein is essential to meet the growing demand while safeguarding environmental concerns and animal welfare. Project HARMONI addresses this issue by generating knowledge for model hybrid products as a toolbox for product characterization and future application. This will help to overcome the limitations of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA) and cultured meat (CM), such as processing challenges, nutritional profiles, and consumer acceptance. By combining the advantages from PBMA and CM, attractive new food designs are provided, that as a long-term goal can expand the food palette, especially for meat eaters and flexitarians.
AU-Food aims to develop a bioprocess for producing animal muscle cells for use in hybrid products. This bioprocess will be optimized to achieve high-quality proteins and bioavailable iron.
Objectives:
(i) Create muscle cell mass with protein quality similar to conventional meat.
(ii) Develop a robust experimental setup to evaluate iron bioavailability in cultivated meat or hybrid products and benchmark these against conventional meat.
Preliminary research suggests that cultivated muscle fibers mimic many quality aspects of conventional meat, but specific nutritional outcomes need confirmation. We aim to address this through advanced in vitro digestion models and absorption studies, using the INFOGEST model and Caco2 cell models to evaluate protein digestibility and iron absorption. This will advance the nutritional characterization of cultivated meat from speculative assessments to concrete, data-driven insights.
Description
01/11-2025 → 30/09-2028
Anne Mette Lykke & Martin Jensen
01/01-2026 → 31/12-2029
