Abstract
European dairy industry is an important agri-food sector; it represents more than 300,000 jobs and 10 billion € positive trade balance. Five out of the ten top global dairy companies are European and more than 80% of European companies are SMEs. More than 300 cheeses and dairy products are sold all over the world and are protected as geographical indications or traditional specialties. Mastering cheese-ripening processes to avoid sanitary risk and waste, and produce typical cheeses with organoleptic properties valued by the consumers is of economic and social significance. E-MUSE aims to develop innovative modelling methodologies to improve knowledge about complex biological systems and to control and/or predict their evolution by combining artificial intelligence and systems biology. This multidisciplinary strategy integrating genome-scale metabolic models, dynamic modelling methodologies, together with the design of efficient statistical and machine learning tools, will allow analysing of multi-omics data and linking the results to macro-scale properties related to cheese ripening and consumer preference. Bioinformatics has addressed this issue by data mining; however, a gap still exists between the molecular scale information and the macroscopic properties that E-MUSE will contribute to fill. Moreover, in the context of sustainable development, more and more consumers are diversifying their diet and consume plant-based food. Introduction of plant-based proteins in the cheese process brings issues such as bitterness or safety. Modelling strategies from the E-MUSE project will help to target and solve these issues. Finally, E-MUSE will train researchers with multidisciplinary skills in mathematics, bioinformatics and/or biology to design and use innovative multiscale modelling methodologies, with the ultimate outcome of a dynamic modelling software giving researchers a harmonised language to address future research questions about complex biological systems.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Daniel Remondini
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "Augusto Righi"
Coordinator:
Institut National De Recherche Pour L'Agriculture, L'Alimentation Et L'Environnement-Inrae(France)
Other Participants:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna
(Italy)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
(Belgium)
Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas (Csic)
(Spain)
Stichting Vu
(Netherlands)
Université Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III
(France)
Nizo Food Research Bv
(Netherlands)
University Of Malta
(Malta)
Chr. Hansen A/S
(Denmark)
Szegedi Tudományegyetem - University Of Szeged
(Hungary)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 3.901.305,60
Project Duration in months: 48
Start Date:
01/01/2021
End Date:
31/12/2024
This project contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 956126