For many people, sweets such as chocolate, biscuits and meringue are part of the Christmas season. But the trend is also moving towards vegan treats that are healthy and sustainable. However, when it comes to baked goods in particular, it can be difficult to completely avoid animal products such as eggs. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising want to change that. In the ‘LeguFoam’ project, a team led by Maike Föste has developed a plant-based alternative to traditional egg whites from hens' eggs.

Microorganisms play a key role in the bioeconomy – from sustainable energy production to the development of new materials. It is therefore essential to understand and further optimise their metabolism. Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University and the Leibniz Institutes in Jena have discovered the extent to which the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can adapt its metabolism – simply through new cultivation conditions, without the need to intervene in the genetic material.

Until recently, chocolate without cocoa and palm oil was unthinkable. With Choviva, the Munich-based start-up Planet A Foods has developed a chocolate alternative that not only manages without cocoa and palm oil, but also saves large amounts of CO₂ during production. The company, which was founded in Planegg in 2021, has now raised 30 million US dollars as part of a Series B financing round to further increase the production of cocoa-free chocolate.

More than 9,000 public sewage treatment plants in Germany ensure that wastewater is biologically purified, thereby minimizing pollution of local water bodies. However, valuable nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are also lost during conventional treatment.

Vegan cheese alternatives have one thing in common: they contain neither casein nor whey protein – although these proteins are essential for the characteristic flavour and texture of cheese made from animal milk. The biotech start-up Infinite Roots, which specialises in sustainable foods made from mushroom mycelium, now wants to remedy this shortcoming. Together with Hamburg University of Technology, the company is developing a technology to utilise whey as a nutrient for mycelium fermentation.

As an intermediate product of many metabolic pathways, acetyl-CoA is a central component in the production of vital biomolecules. The molecule binds carbon dioxide (CO₂) and is therefore crucial for how efficiently the greenhouse gas is incorporated into metabolic processes in order to ultimately produce biomass.

Land, moor and sea are the three areas of expertise that Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) can rely on for bio-based structural change. The focus is on the high-quality refinement of plant-based raw materials such as arable crops, reeds and algae. By 2030, these renewable raw materials are to be turned into products that will help the region to achieve an economic upturn and make it a model region for the bioeconomy. Peatlands play an important role in structural change. They currently make up around 13% of the total area of the federal state.

Alongside fats and carbohydrates, proteins are the main nutrients that the human body needs. Proteins serve as a building material for cells and tissue, can repair bones and tissue or control metabolic processes in the body as an enzyme. Researchers have therefore been endeavouring for years to recreate proteins on the computer and give them better properties. An international research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new method for designing proteins. 

Climate change and dwindling resources are already posing major challenges for industry today. The industrial bioeconomy offers solutions for replacing fossil fuels with renewable raw materials, closing cycles and thus contributing to a resource-efficient and climate-neutral industry.