Through AZTI-Tecnalia's extensive experience in R&D, the organisation has achieved the following:

• 17 patents currently in force, transferred and exploited by the food industry.

• Over the past decade, numerous initiatives have been carried out with good results in the market; specifically four companies (Bionor, Reikia, Patatas de Álava and Baskaviar) had been set up to exploit patented products.

• Trials have been conducted on various formulations for active edible films.

• Techniques have been defined for the recovery of usable components and trials are being conducted on by-products produced by dairy, winemaking, canned fish and vegetable companies.

• An area of R&D has been developed for modified foods and food product analogues. This area conducts research into the formulation of functional foods, restructured foods, surimi derivatives, pre-prepared foods, packaged ready-to-eat fresh and pre-cooked foods, etc.

• AZTI-Tecnalia has endeavoured to acquire new technologies in order to apply them to the design and development of new products and food safety.

Innovative products developed:

• Fish and anchovy analogues, mackerel sausages, new formulas for traditional meat sausages… and a whole host of other new products.
• Products derived from surimi developed in conjunction with leading public companies.
• Healthy, fun snack products, highly innovative in the snacks market.
• Improving the commercial appeal of undervalued oily fish using pasteurisation and vacuum cooking techniques.
• Development of a preservation system for the commercialisation of peeled potatoes, leading to the creation of a company specialising in potato-based products.
• Optimisation of a manufacturing process for sturgeon caviar analogue and the creation of a company.
• Isolation of caseins and milk serum proteins: development of various high value-added products using the application of membrane technologies.
• Fresh preservation of vegetable products of high commercial value: we have managed to prolong the shelf-life of Basque Quality Label peppers.
• Active packaging and edible coatings: Implemented in eight companies, which has increased by 50% the shelf-life of fruit, meat fillets and fresh mushrooms.
• Preservation of fish products through the application of light pulse technology. High-quality foods have been obtained with the same or very similar properties as those of the fresh product, whilst also maintaining very strict hygiene conditions.
• Fish food: project ‘ACUIPROT’, using undervalued fish products to produce food for fish farms.

Natural biomolecules for use in food, medicine, cosmetics and drugs: since the mid 1990s, AZTI-Tecnalia has been researching ways of obtaining fibres, antioxidants, fatty acids and colourings using vegetable and animal by-products for subsequent use as ingredients. The results are very encouraging and significant:

• Phytogenic antioxidants manufactured using by-products from processed fruit and vegetables.
  
• High value-added fatty compounds and hydrolysed proteins based on undervalued fish species.
  
• Chitin-Chitosan: new products obtained using fish by-products, for use in the pharmaceutical sector, medicine and food industry.
  
• New food additives extracted from solid tomato waste. Tomato waste has been reduced 30% and new foods have been created.

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