11 September 2024
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Parties within the Success4BioActives collaboration, initiated by Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, have received more than €7 tons of funding from the North Limburg Regional Deal. The project aims to set up a collaboration cluster that focuses on developing knowledge regarding bioactive ingredients in fruits and vegetables that are valuable for health.
It is becoming increasingly clear that revenue models for horticulture no longer lie in bulk. To maintain a leading position in agri-food, it is necessary to invest in innovation for the sustainable production of high-quality and healthy food.
There is increasing awareness of the role of a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables in preventing diseases of affluence. Knowledge about bioactive compounds in crops has also taken off in recent years. More and more is known about the action and value of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber for our health. In addition, research has shown that levels of bioactive substances vary greatly between varieties and even seem to have declined sharply in recent decades. This offers perspective for variety research and crop management.
In addition to these developments, there is increasing attention to bio-circularity and sustainability, in which the focus is shifting to bio-based raw materials produced in a sustainable manner. Consumers are also making increasingly conscious choices in this regard. This transition offers opportunities for the horticultural sector to create added value from bioactive substances in crops.
Program Success4BioActives
Within the Success4BioActives program, under the direction of Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, various research groups from Maastricht University and HAS Green Academy will enter into cooperation with research companies Compas Agro, Botany, Blue Engineering and Brightlabs in order to jointly gain more insight into the presence, cultivation control and processing of bioactive substances that are valuable for human health. The collaboration is set up through working groups and model projects, which serve as a stepping stone to long-term projects that should lead to new products and revenue models for the horticultural sector.
Collaboration
Companies from the horticultural sector in the Venlo region (and beyond) interested in the topic of bioactive ingredients can join the project by joining the working groups or becoming part of the (future) research and product development projects.
Additional value of the project
.Both the campus and the horticultural sector in the North Limburg region will benefit from this project through the unique value proposition that will be built around this topical theme in which health and sustainability are central.
This project is made possible in part by Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, Compas Agro b.v., Blue Engineering b.v., Botany Group b.v., Universiteit Maastricht Healthy Eating and Food Innovation (UM HEFI-FIH), Universiteit Maastricht Brightlands Future Farming Institute (UM BFFI), Universiteit Maastricht Food Claims Center (UM FCC) and Brightlabs b.v.
The North Limburg Region Deal focuses on health in the broadest sense, such as healthy agriculture and horticulture, sustainability, prevention (health/social), combating undermining and a healthy cross-border business climate. The cabinet has made €17.5 million available for North Limburg in two tranches. This amount will be doubled by the Province of Limburg and the Region of North Limburg! This makes €35 million available from the government, together with investments from partners, to support projects that contribute to a healthy future of North Limburg.
