OPTIBIOCAT Kick-Off Meeting in Naples © BIOCOM AG
Cosmetics companies are increasingly interested in new environment-friendly production processes and in novel cosmetic ingredients with a lower environmental footprint. This is also the aim of the project OPTIBIOCAT [1], which is backed by around 7 million euros of EU funding. The project brings together a broad interdisciplinary team of researchers, academics and industry experts, with 16 partners from Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland, covering the entire development process, from genome and microbial mining to application. Most prominent industry partner is Greek natural cosmetics producer Korres.
Enzymatic biocatalysts
The aim of the four-year project is to replace resource and energy-intensive chemical processes currently used in the cosmetic industry through discovering and optimising novel enzymatic biocatalysts. The OPTIBIOCAT researchers will develop biocatalysts requiring fewer steps in the production of components as well as lower-temperatures (50-60°C) compared to those of chemical processes (up to 160°C).
“The environmental footprint for the production of the identified antioxidants will be significantly reduced with our innovative biocatalysts,” says Vincenza Faraco from the University of Naples, who leads the OPTIBIOCAT consortium.
