Ongoing projects
The aim of the VitalCoat project is to develop waxes and wax mixtures that are applied to the bark of trees infested with harmful fungi. In particular, they are intended to support healing. In addition, seeds are to be coated with the waxes. The waxes are also obtained from native plants.
Sandy soils dominate in Brandenburg. Added to this are the consequences of climate change. Farmers are adapting to this and are increasingly cultivating crops that can cope with these conditions. So far, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) has hardly been cultivated. Researchers at the ILU want to change this. This is because the pseudo-cereal is rich in carbohydrates and proteins as well as minerals and vitamins.
Domestic sheep's wool is difficult to market. One solution: the wool washing project aims to develop a small wool washing plant that will enable small batches to be washed according to type while minimising transport costs.
In the ForestFeed project, the project partners use industrial forest by-products, such as residues from lignin extraction, as nutrients for a fungus. The resulting fungal biomass serves as feedstock for fish food.
In the GranuGruen project, a granulate is being developed for soil improvement. The material is intended to store additional water and thus make the soil more climate-sensitive. The plant granules are to be made from construction materials.
The research project Interimmun-APEC aims to reduce the use of antibiotics in poultry by early detection of pathogens.
Current European agricultural production systems are highly dependent on protein imports. Due to this dependency, European agricultural systems are vulnerable to rapid supply chain disruptions. To address these issues, the EU is looking for sustainable and locally available alternative sources of protein.
Scientists from various institutes are working together to develop a sensor platform using new photonic measurement technology. Based on the new detection techniques, the Institute for Food and Environmental Research (ILU) e.V. will develop measures that are effective against a variety of microbial contamination.
Acrylamide is also produced during the baking of special products that are refined with vegetable ingredients, such as baked goods with potatoes or carrots. The aim of this research project is to develop a successful strategy to minimise acrylamide in such baked goods.
Only a small proportion of the plants that exist on earth are used by humans as food. For example, only three plants provide 60 per cent of the calories and nutrients: maize, rice and wheat. In addition, these and a few other species take up a large part of agricultural land. As part of Horizon 2020, the EU founded the Radiant project with the aim of using more crop species than before and thus making the food system more robust.
In the ResBerry project, researchers are looking for new ways: the aim is to strengthen above- and below-ground biodiversity in order to increase the resilience of European organic soft fruit cultivation against the most important pests and diseases.
The quality of pea starch is subject to strong fluctuations, which lead to reduced product qualities. Reduced breeding contributed to the lack of optimisation with regard to important ingredients. Moreover, the main use of peas is almost exclusively in animal feed. This project aims to change that.
Aquacultures cause very high GHG emissions, with feed production accounting for 87 percent of GHG emissions. The CLIMAQUA project aims to implement an innovative aquaculture-based food system with reduced climate impact.
The preservation of the plane tree as an important urban tree is the aim of the project. The task is to develop and apply an innovative and sustainable non-chemical plant protection that targets S. platani, the causal agent of Massaria disease.
Use of regionally occurring organic raw materials for the production of mycelium-based packaging material
This cooperation project of IGV GmbH, Früchteverarbeitung Sohra GmbH and ILU e. V. aims at a new use of the field bean. One possibility is to distil drinkable alcohol from it.
By-products from rapeseed oil extraction usually end up as animal feed in stables. Scientists at the ILU and TU Berlin want to get more out of it. In the end, rapeseed yoghurt products could soon be in the supermarket.
In the project, plant waste will be used for the production of extracts with biostimulant properties. This can help to promote the yield and quality of the plants and increase their content of minerals such as iron, magnesium and zinc
