News

The results of the development in upgrading whey within the LIFE for Acid Whey and LAKTIKA project are being implemented within the new Viva la Gaia brand.

The Slovenian Strategic Development and Innovation Partnership - Networks for the Transition to a Circular Economy (SRIP - Circular Economy) in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development, on March 8, 2023, at the MEGRA fair in Gornja Radgona awarded the first Slovenian awards for inventions in the field of the circular economy for 2022.

At the Symposium in Rovinj (12 - 15 October 2022) we presented the results of growing kefir grains in acid (fermented) whey.

This time we presented development projects in the field of whey at the CEFood 2022 conference.

The results of the LIFE for Acid Whey project in the field of preparative and analytical immunoglobulin G chromatography were presented at the 26th International Symposium on Separation Sciences & 26th International Symposium for High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography.

An interesting review article by Slovenian authors about lactoferrin, lactoferricin and their peptides, about their antimicrobial activities and other mechanisms of action.

Presentations, posters, proceedings and photographic material from the conference.

Veselilo nas je, da smo lahko porjekt LIFE for Acid Whey predstavili na 14. Okoljskem srečanju Akademije Finance.

Predavanje si lahko pogledate na naslednji povezavi.

As part of the promotion of the new LACTOPRO product, we distributed 300 free products.

SMEunited is the association of crafts and SMEs in Europe with member organisations from over 30 European countries. SMEunited acts on behalf of crafts and SMEs in the European Social Dialogue and in discussions with the EU institutions. As a result of the collaboration with the EU LIFE Programme, SMEunited presented the leaflet “Green Perspectives in Food Production” in a webinar, which took place on March 24, 2021. As a tool, the leaflet’s objective is to provide inspiration and guidance to SMEs in the food sector on sustainable business in a simple way

The new results of the work on the LIFE for Acid Whey project were presented at the 8th Beneficial Microbes Conference, which took place as a virtual event between 22 and 24 March 2021. The purpose of the BM2021 conference is to present innovations in the production and use of pre- and probiotics in human and animal health.

The results of the cultivation of lactococci, lactic acid bacteria that produce the antibiotic nisin in the residual acid whey, were also presented at the international conference of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.

The development projects on advanced possibilities of whey treatment and reuse, LIFE for Acid Whey and LAKTIKA, were presented as part of the annual conference "Food, nutrition, health", which took place this year under the slogan of World Food Day 2020 "Grow, feed, preserve".

We gladly responded to the invitation and presented the LIFE for Acid Whey project at the event “Climate-neutral food and wood: Showcasing best climate practices in agriculture, forestry, food systems and the bioeconomy”.

At the virtual congress, which took place between 23 and 25 September 2020, we presented the pilot results of nisin production in residual acid whey after whey protein removal.

We gladly responded to the invitation of the TECOS development center and presented the possibilities of further use of whey, which we are studying in the framework of the LIFE for Acid Whey project.

We have published the results of initial pilot research within the LIFE for Acid Whey project in the field of characterization of lactoferrin - a whey protein isolated from acid whey.

Participation in the 30th anniversary event of BIA d.o.o.

We presented the project at the FUTURE FOOD exhibition.

Transfer of project contents into the educational process

The TBMCE conference was devoted to presentations of circular economy concepts, technologies and methodologies that contribute to the shift of business entities and society as a whole to a more responsible, circular management of resources.

The results of the LIFE for Acid Whey project were presented at the 11th NIZO Dairy Conference, which took place between 8th  and 11th October 2019 in Pependal, the Netherlands. 

We presented our results as part of the latest scientific findings on the functionality of proteins in milk and whey.

The quality of lactoferrin we ordered from the largest online stores turned out to be inadequate.

Institute of dairy science & probiotics tested the antimicrobial activity of lactoferrin produced by ARHEL in comparison with three commercial products on the market.

In May 2019, we attended the Vitafoods Europe fair in Geneva to learn about food supplements, nutraceuticals, new technological processes and formulations. We were particularly interested in whey protein and probiotic products. Their use has been increasing lately. They are becoming an important component of sports diets, enriched and hypoallergenic infant formulas, dietary diets for the elderly population and, among other things, natural remedies for protection against type 2 diabetes, alleviating insomnia, strengthening immunity.

At the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Maribor, we conducted the first microfiltration tests on a filtration system, which was designed and manufactured at Arhel.

The project has achieved a significant milestone! 

Demonstration plant is installed.

At the symposium, the contents of the LIFE for Acid whey project were presented with the lecture Finding New ways to use whey - a by-product of milk processing.
Twenty-two presentations at the December 6, 2018 event in Velenje covered a wide range of scientific and technical knowledge in the fields of environmental protection, nature protection, environmental technologies and sustainable development, which are combined in interdisciplinary study programs of the College higher education programm. The Symposium also featured a Proceedings.

The event was organized as part of the Slovenian LIFE capacity building project. We were happy to share our experiences with all those interested in this European LIFE financial mechanism.

At the conference we presented the first results o LIFE for Acid Whey project with two contributions.

The Symposium organized by the Croatian Dairy Cooperative will take place in Lovran, Croatia, between 7 and 10 November 2018.

Presentation of the process of extraction of lactoferrin from acid whey and its antimicrobial activity.

Pogoj je zaključen doktorat s področja kemije, biokemije, živilstva, biotehnologije ali sorodnih smeri.

In the context of the project LIFE Capacity Building Slovenia the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning organised the second LIFE international networking conference entitled “LIFE farming – environmentally sustainable agriculture”. 

The conference took place on 8th and 9th May 2018. 

 On the second day (9th May) a networking event was taken place at the Brdo Congress Centre, Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia where also LIFE for Acid Whey was present.

The project team of the LIFE Capacity Building project of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning presented in the EOL magazine the supported LIFE projects in the field of circular economy.

In the framework of LIFE for Acid Whey project, we visited the ANUGA FoodTec fair in Cologne Gemany, to stay in touch with up-to-date technologies for separation and drying of milk and whey.

Networking with existing and completed projects with related content is an important activity of the LIFE for Acid Whey project.

In Arhel, we are very proud of the excellent results of lactoferrin activity obtained from whey within the LIFE for Acid Whey project. In comparing the analysis with other commercially available lactoferrins and the standard, our lactoferrin exhibits the highest iron binding capacity or very low saturation with iron.

After coagulation of casein and albumin from milk in standard methods of curd production, whey remains, in which a small amount of so-called
whey proteins is still present. Many of them, such as lactoferrin, are important physiologically active substances. Using monolithic
chromatographic columns in the LIFE for Acid Whey project, we have already achieved excellent results in sequential separation of  individual whey protein groups and high purity and the efficiency of lactoferrin extraction.

On 30 November 2017, we were pleased to present the results that we achieved in the first five months of the project. Besides several preparatory studies, we optimised the method of extraction of lactoferrin from acid whey and obtained the first samples of the product of high purity and activity.

We attended the official International conference on lactoferrin in Rome. The six days of lectures confirm the high relevance of the topic. The conference presented the latest findings in the field of characterisation and quality control of lactoferrin, new findings in the field of lactoferrin functions in the organism, its new ways of use for health protection and improvement and ways of its production.

The project LIFE Slovenia presents a collection of Slovenian LIFE projects

In Brussels, in the company of confirmed LIFE project in 2016, we got to know with the meaning of the LIFE programme in the European Union, the project management rules and presented our project to other participants and a group of potential investors. The event was a great opportunity to establish the first contact with representatives of projects with related content.

In October 2017, we will attend a kick-off meeting in Brussels, organised for all newly approved LIFE16 projects. We will present our project, which has been selected by European Commission as a project with a high “close to market” potential, to investors from “cleantech” sector in the frame of a special event.

In the document, we have presented a brief presentation of the objectives and content of the project.

The project LIFE for Acid Whey can be found in the database of the European Commission LIFE projects.

On July the 1st 2017, we have officially started with the project Reuse of waste acid whey for extraction of high added value bioactive proteins »LIFE for Acid Whey«. The project is co-financed by European Commission in the frame of the LIFE Programme.