Identification & Background:
Project title: INOV@LHEIRA
Project description: The INOV@LHEIRA project aims to promote innovation in the sausage industry and the production of traditional alheira, through research and development of production and conservation processes for alheira paste as a way of obtaining differentiating products.
Approval date: 2024-08-14
Start date: 2025-01-01
Completion date: 2027-31-12
Total eligible investment: 787 211,84€
Copromotors: Fumeinor – Indústria de Fumeiro e Conexos Lda; AquaValor – Center for the Valorization and Transfer of Water Technology – Association; MORECoLAB Mountains of Research Collaborative Laboratory –Association; TAGUSVALLEY – Association for the Promotion and Development of the Tagus Valley Technopole.
Objectives
1) Develop a new ready-to-eat alheira paste product to be sold in casing-free packaging, maintaining the organoleptic properties of traditional alheira, without the addition of preservatives and with a shelf life of six months;
2) Develop a functional alheira paste by incorporating ingredients/extracts (e.g.: phytosterols, dietary fibers), without the addition of preservatives and with a shelf life of six months; 3) Develop a sustainable process in terms of cost-benefit and low environmental impact to preserve the developed products;
4) Demonstrate the production of the products and the developed process on a relevant scale.
Activities
Study of the alheira paste production process;
Study of the functionalisation of alheira paste;
Research into different preservation and packaging technologies;
Demonstration of products and processes; Dissemination, communication and exploitation of project results;
Project management.
Expected Results
The aim is to obtain two new products and a process, namely:
Products: i) A ready-to-eat alheira paste, with organoleptic characteristics (smoked flavour and grainy texture) similar to traditional alheira, without the addition of preservatives, and packaged in accordance with the selected preservation technology (elimination of the casing stuffing step). ii) A functional alheira paste by incorporating ingredients/extracts (e.g. phytosterols, dietary fibres), which can help reduce cholesterol.
Process: Obtain a process for preserving the “alheira paste” that allows the elimination of chemical additives added in the traditional alheira production process, as well as increasing the shelf life to 6 months (currently, 2 months in a commercial context).
