Milestone reached for sustainable polyphenol extraction

In late May 2025, we wrapped up the third – and final – pilot run of our grape-pomace polyphenol process at BBEPP.

🔍 What’s new this time?

• Grape pomace from Hoenshof winery (Borgloon, Limburg) first underwent supercritical CO₂ extraction (SFE) at the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of New Chemical Syntheses (Puławy, Poland).
• The defatted residues were shipped back to BBEPP and processed at 1 m³ scale, completing our test matrix of three scenarios.

👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 On-site collaboration:
Our colleagues from VITO—authors of last year’s lab-scale protocol—visited the pilot plant to see the large-scale equipment in action, compare notes, and discuss results and next steps.

💡 Why it matters:
These trials benchmark the impact of SFE and an aqueous pre-extraction on yield and purity, bringing us closer to an eco-efficient, circular-economy route for valorising winery side streams.

A big thank-you to every partner who made this phase a success! On to data crunching and scaling strategies. 📈

#GreenChemistry #CircularBioeconomy #Polyphenols #Upcycling #SFE #BBEPP #VITO