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Christian Jay-Allemand (UM) and Luc Bidel (INRAE) win the Carnot 2022 Grand Prize for partnership research

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Christian Jay-Allemand (UM) and Luc Bidel (INRAE), both researchers at the Iate laboratory (Ingénierie des agropolymères et des technologies émergentes) have won the Carnot Grand Prix for Research partnerships. Their project, called ESBAC "Ecoextraction sélective de biomolécules actives" (Selective Ecoextraction of Active Biomolecules), aims to develop natural antifungals for the agri-food industry, in partnership with Antofenol. The 10,000 euro prize was awarded by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research at the Salon Carnot held in Paris on October 12 and 13.

Limiting food spoilage

Natural antifungals help limit food spoilage caused by pathogenic fungi. Today, these fungi have become a major concern in the agri-food sector, and the question of
how to limit the reduction of these losses is emerging more and more, particularly concerning post-harvest losses (linked to the activity of cooperatives in particular) which use fungicides derived from petrochemicals.

Christian Jay-Allemand and Luc Bidel set out to find a solution to this problem. The aim was to enrich the molecules of interest in a complex plant extract obtained by eco-extraction of crushed vine shoots, using a prototype initially developed by the Antofénol company, in close collaboration with IES (Bernard Orsal, UM) and our laboratory. The ESBAC project is based on two objectives. Firstly, to identify a family of phenolic active molecules capable of inhibiting various pathogenic fungi responsible for the degradation of post-harvest foods. Secondly, to develop a new pre-industrial process based on molecular imprints (MIPs) capable of selectively enriching complex extracts from woody biomasses with target molecules. The aim is not only to demonstrate the efficacy of extracts from
bois de vigne according to grape variety, but also to control the quality of marketed extracts in direct relation to their antifungal power. This success, and the award of the Prix Carnot, are the result of a substantial partnership effort, which found its scientific dynamism at the heart of strong links between research and university training, and which will lead in the long term to processes adapted to industrial development.

A successful project thanks to strong interdisciplinarity between the University of Montpellier and Antofenol

Antofenol, founded on our Triolet university campus in 2016, specializes in plant eco-extraction for the development of biocontrol products (natural extracts that can replace pesticides). This coupling between Antofenol and the University of Montpellier was born in 2012 on the basis of a decisive impulse from Fanny Rolet, a former graduate of our DTEC-Bio Master's program (now IBION-Tec) and Antofenol's CEO. The company, which became a UM priority partner in 2018 thanks to the creation of the ESBAC project, was able to secure an overall budget of over €370,000, managed by the University of Montpellier
to develop new strategies and technological devices for enriching complex extracts based on molecular fingerprints. The project is also co-financed by the Occitanie Region and the European Union. These strong links between training, research and innovation/business are at the root of Antofenol's success. It is undoubtedly both a human R&D adventure based on high-level interdisciplinary skills (management, plant biology, metabolism, polyphenols, opto-electronics, machining, etc.) and a rare dynamic operating system within an optimized laboratory space fully integrating this partnership.

The Grand Prix Carnot in a nutshell

The Prix Carnot de la Research Partenariale, created by the Association des instituts Carnot, is intended to highlight the remarkable actions of its members in the field of research partnerships between a Carnot institute and a company, and to reward the researchers who have been at the origin of such partnerships. Several prizes were awarded during the Rendez-vous Carnot 2022, including the partnership led by a young researcher, the partnership research supporting the creation of a spin-off, the partnership research with an SME and finally the long-term partnership (3 years or more) for which the University won the prize. Each prize is awarded personally to the researcher or team in charge of the partnership (prizes of €5,000 and €10,000).

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