PROCIENCIA Contract No. 010-2021
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Project Description — PROCIENCIA Contract No. 010-2021
Full title: Development of a Pilot Plant for the Production of Alginates and Derivatives for the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries. Design and Preliminary Studies for the Implementation of a Biorefinery to Utilize Marine Biomass.
What is it actually about?
The project developed process engineering and pre-feasibility studies to produce alginates at pilot scale from marine macroalgae (mainly brown algae from the Peruvian coast, such as Macrocystis pyrifera).
Alginates are biopolymers in high global demand as thickening, gelling and encapsulating agents in food (stabilizers, edible coatings) and pharmaceuticals (controlled drug-release matrices, biomedical dressings).
The biorefinery component broadens the scope: instead of extracting only alginates, the design considers the comprehensive use of marine biomass to also obtain mannitol, laminarin, pigments and other valuable compounds while minimizing waste.
Call for proposals: “Special Projects for Reactivation” — PROCIENCIA/CONCYTEC funding for applied research with a post-pandemic economic impact.
Outcome: Project successfully completed (certificate issued on June 20, 2026).
Strategic relevance: Peru has one of the largest reserves of brown algae on the South Pacific coast. This type of project positions national biotechnology capabilities in a global biopolymer market exceeding USD 700 M annually.
RELATED KEYWORDS
alginates Peru
biorefinery marine biomass
brown algae Macrocystis
natural biopolymers
PROCIENCIA research
pilot-scale alginate production Peru
marine biomass utilization Peruvian coast
alginates pharmaceutical industry Peru
macroalgae biorefinery Peruvian coast
alginate extraction Macrocystis pyrifera
brown algae research project CONCYTEC
marine biopolymers food applications
mannitol macroalgae
laminarin extraction
pharmaceutical encapsulation biopolymers
South Pacific Ocean bioproducts
blue economy Peru
marine biomass sustainability
applied research economic recovery