Fermentation is used traditionally and worldwide to make plant-based foods nutritionally accessible, more wholesome, tastier and more durable.

In the SusBev project, this technology is to be applied to previously unused agricultural side streams (e.g. leaves from grape vines and other cultivated plants, pomace and pulp from fruit and vegetable processing) in order to sustainably produce new, healthy foods.

The various steps of fermentative application development - harvesting and preparing the plant material, selecting and testing the microorganisms and adapting the fermentation conditions to the respective substrate - are carried out in the project by an interdisciplinary consortium of partners. Initially, work is being done on using the leaves of fungus-resistant grape varieties (Piwis) to produce low-alcohol, wine-like drinks. The result should be optimized microbial starter cultures, methods and processes that can be transferred to the winery, and product prototypes.

Specifically, TVC contributes its expertise to the selection, harvesting and processing of suitable side streams.

BRAIN Biotech AG selects and optimizes suitable microorganisms and establishes the basic process on a laboratory scale.

Zukunftsweine GmbH and TVC transfer and test the laboratory results in the winery, taking into account the specific requirements of organic and conventional production.

In addition, Zukunftsweine GmbH accompanies product development from a market perspective, develops a product brand profile and a visual product world.

Provadis Hochschule will prepare a life cycle analysis for the various process variants to estimate the environmental impact, as well as a technical-economic analysis for pricing..