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Valorisation of Biomass from the Daffodil Growing Industry

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Project Description

The UK is a world leader in the commercial production of daffodils, with Scottish-based farmers’ cooperative Grampian Growers Ltd (GG) at the forefront of the industry. The majority of daffodil biomass produced by GG is used for bulb and flower export for the subsequent extraction of the alkaloid galanthamine to produce drugs to manage Alzheimer’s Disease, however this involves removal of the green (flowers and leaves) parts of the plants that are then discarded. Moreover, following high yield galanthamine extraction the remaining crude extract is un-used, despite being rich in both carotenoids and flavonoids that possess broad biological activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, enzyme inhibitory and cytoprotective effects. Biological events such as inflammation and oxidative stress are important components in diet-associated diseases such as obesity and metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease. Consequently, some carotenoids and flavonoids are valuable commodities as nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals aimed at maintaining health and wellbeing. There is thus significant potential for increased valorisation of daffodil extracts by exploiting what is currently an "un-tapped” source of valuable chemicals, thus contributing to the circular economy and progress to a "zero waste" approach to the industrial production of galanthamine and at the same time increasing revenue for GG. The aim of the project is to identify what naturally occurring high value bioactives can be extracted by an integrated method in an existing downstream process in daffodil processing, to create a sustainable and scalable production of naturally derived bioactive molecules for the burgeoning nutraceutical/food supplement market, reduce processing waste and valorise the biomass to create a more profitable use of daffodil crops

Status Project Live
Funder(s) Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council
Value £104,732.00
Project Dates Oct 1, 2021 - Sep 30, 2025
Partner Organisations Agroceutical Products Limited

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