Portugal is an exceptional producer of acorns due to its extensive Montado, with Quercus genus trees estimated to represent about 36% of the entire national forest area. Despite the historical record of acorn consumption worldwide—and in the Portuguese case, contemporary records of traditional consumption in some regions—only holm oak acorns (Quercus rotundifolia) are currently listed as approved for human consumption by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The OakFood project aims to promote the integrated valorization of acorns as a Portuguese raw material for the development of value-added products, offering sustainable, short-supply-chain alternatives for the food industry. The consortium, led by Food4Sustainability CoLAB, includes the participation of seven companies in the food sector (LandraTech, Arcadia International, Equanto, Pepe Aromas, Javalimágico, AgroGrIN Tech, and Purenut), along with the Catholic University of Portugal in Porto, the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of the Center representing the Viseu Innovation Hub, the National Confederation of Agriculture, and the National Competence Center for Nuts.
The main outcomes achieved by the OakFood project are: (1) the development of a national network for the production of acorns from cork oak, oak, and holm oak through the dissemination of a survey to all producers, followed by data analysis and dissemination of a database; (2) the study and optimization of protocols, including scalability analysis to unlock continuous supply capacity and the standardization of all stages of the value chain—from harvesting to processing and transformation—to ensure the highest possible quality of the final acorn product; (3) the development of new, innovative foods with export potential, incorporating acorn-derived ingredients for the production of flours, granolas, nut butters, beverages, and infusions; and (4) the development of technical dossiers aiming to obtain authorization for the consumption of cork oak and oak acorns. A marketing and communication strategy will also be created, focused on emerging national and international markets, supported by an assessment of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the emerging value chain.
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