The aim is to develop new, innovative biorefining techniques to convert natural bioresources into high-quality feed ingredients for fish and farm animals. David Lapeña Gomez has just started on his PhD linked to Foods of Norway.

– I have spent the first weeks getting to know the laboratory and my colleagues. The first samples from meat and fish waste will soon arrive. In the meantime I practice on frozen samples, Gomez explains.

He apologizes for the smell of waste which is evident in the laboratory. Gomez’s task, guided by his supervisor NMBU-professor Vincent Eijsink, is to transform the industrial co-products from meat and salmon production into valuable products that can be used as novel feed ingredients.

Food technology to reduce food waste

Gomez holds a bachelor degree in agriculture engineering, in which he specialized in food industry and a master degree in food technology from the Technical University of Denmark.

– In my Master I studied how to get bioethanol from waste products of beer production. My background in biotechnology linked to, among other things, hydrolysis and fermentation will be important in order to create nitrogen sources from co-products. I find this project interesting as future biotechnology can be one solution to reduce food waste and develop valuable bi-products, Gomez says.