On the 11st - 12nd December 2018 at Natural Resources Institute Finland -Luke in Helsinki, will be held the SIMBA Kick‐Off Meeting. SIMBA Project is financed by EU Horizon 2020 programme. The project is operational for four years (11/2018-10/2022) and the total EU contribution is €10 m. SIMBA consortium has 23 research institutes and industrial partners all over Europe. ENEA is involved as a partner with the Biotechnology and Agro-industry Division- Sustainability, Quality and Safety of Agrifood productions Laboratory.

SIMBA’s research focuses on microbiomes and their effects in food chains. During the project, innovative microbiome applications are also being piloted in practice. A microbiome is the community of micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses) living in a certain habitat, such as the soil or sea, or in a human or animal body. Microbiomes are vital for the life and health of both humans and animals, and also essential components of food chains

The objective of the SIMBA project is to harness complex soil and marine microbial communities (microbiomes) for the sustainable production of food. SIMBA will focus on two interconnected food chains, i.e. crop production, aquaculture. SIMBA will first launch an in silico phase in order to analyze the further pre-existing microbiome databases and earlier studies, to identify the best microbiome layout capable of supporting food chain quality and productivity.

During the four years of project implementation, interdisciplinary research will be performed but also commercial microbial applications will be piloted.

"Near to market” microbiome applications for sustainable food systems will be provided thanks to the interdisciplinary and cross-sectional nature of the proposal and the active role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

More information

ENEAinform@-  http://www.enea.it/it/Stampa/news/cibo-dai-microbi-soluzioni-innovative-...

LUKE - https://www.luke.fi/en/news/large-eu-funded-project-fostering-sustainabl...

@SIMBAproject_EU

For more information about the project, kindly contact:

Annamaria Bevivino – Head of Sustainability, Quality and Safety of Agrifood productions Laboratory – annamaria.bevivino@enea.it