The project will form the basis for reducing methane emissions from cattle by 1 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030, corresponding to the government's agreement on the green transformation of Danish agriculture. The mean of action is the implementation of feed additives, feed materials and feeding strategies to reduce the methane emission from the cow.

Equipment will be installed to measure methane emissions from individual cows on several cattle farms. This will provide a unique trial setup to test and optimize the allocation of feed additives under practical conditions in order to achieve the greatest possible reduction in methane emissions, without affecting the cows' feed intake, milk yield, health or welfare. Furthermore, the project must ensure that the quality of the milk and meat is not impaired by the use of feed additives.

The project will provide a unique opportunity to bring the feed additives and feeding strategies closer to Danish farmers and companies and enable them to be the first worldwide to implement these strategies and additives in practice to reduce methane emissions
Description

MuscleFuel will reach proof of concept of the use of porcine blood and microalgae as nutrient for cultivated meat through six research and development work packages and one management and dissemination work package
WP1 Collection of blood and microalgae biomass
WP2 Fractionation of biomass for hydrolysis
WP3 Targeted hydrolysis of biomass fractions using AI and enzyme engineering
WP4 Screening of nutrients as resources for proliferation of satellite cell culture
WP5 Characterization of nutrients
WP6 Live cycle assessment of blood and microalgae as potential resources for proliferation of satellite cells for cultivated meat
WP7 Management and disseminationDescription

Recent studies have shown that nitrate addition to the feed can reduce methane emissions from dairy cows by 10-20%. Thus, nitrate is one of the most promising methane-mitigating feed additives for use in dairy cattle. However, the possible transfer of nitrate to the milk is a concern as it can potentially result in elevated levels in dairy products. This makes dairies and farmers hesitant to implement nitrate. Upon arrival at the dairies, milk is not analysed for nitrate and nitrite, and there is a lack of knowledge about variations in the milk's background level of these compounds and how the variation in milk relate to breed, season, specific feed materials and the gross milk composition.

The project will collect and analyse a large number of milk samples from farmers, specific dairy lines and dairies to map the variation in nitrate and nitrite and elucidate the effect of breed and season. Furthermore, selected feed samples will be analysed for nitrate/nitrite, especially in relation to grass/maize silage and grass at different maturation levels. The nitrate/nitrite content will also be assessed relative to the other milk quality traits, including the content of riboflavin, as previous studies have documented increased riboflavin content in the milk by adding nitrate to the feed. The knowledge generated in the project is essential to ensuring that the addition of nitrate to the feed will not exceed threshold values for nitrate/nitrite in the milk and otherwise compromise milk quality.
Description

In alignment with the global demand to produce food products without additives, since 2016, Lactosan A/S has launched a new product portfolio based on cheese powder without adding emulsifying salt. In comparison with the standard cheese powders, the new product portfolio (without adding emulsifying salt) is easy to solubilize in oil-based applications and has more clean taste and volatile flavours, but have less free-flowing ability, poor solubility in water-based applications and easy to lump and turn into a sticky form. Therefore, the number of complaints we receive from customers has increased. Three specific objectives (SO) are essential to solve the above-mentioned problems. (SO1): To clarify how to produce, store, and transport a stable clean-label cheese powder with a uniform distribution of crystallized fat droplets. (SO2): To reduce powder caking and loss of functionality by evaluating surface free fat formation and minimizing it. (SO3): Produce important knowledge regarding the mechanism for improvement of emulsification with natural components in high-fat content and well-matured cheeses e.g., blue mould-based cheeses and thereby avoiding the use of emulsifying salt.


Participants of the project:
Lars Wiking, Institut for Fødevarer - Fødevarekemi
Trine Dalsgaard, Institut for Fødevarer - Fødevarekemi
Emma Frahm, Lactosan A/S, Institut for Fødevarer - Fødevarekemi
Alireza Naseri, Lactosan A/S
Inger Hansen, Lactosan A/S

Description