The PROSPLIGN project – PROSPecting natural LIGNin biodiversity towards unlocking value-added bioactive motifs and molecules – is a European funded Research and Innovation Action project. The project’s key objective is to apply state-of-the-art methodologies to prospect the bioactivity potential of lignin – a natural, abundant and sustainable biopolymer component of lignocellulosic biomass.

For the past two years the project partners have focused on the identification of compounds and validation of their potential for the development of products in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and fragrances markets.

Notably, the initial results obtained for the pharmaceutical applications are currently promising. The samples screened so far in the project are from preliminary small-scale experiments and consist of small molecules derived from the lignin depolymerization research. The samples with the most attractive bioactivity profiles have been selected for scale up to produce sufficiently large quantities for fractionation, purification and characterization. Specifically, 31 samples have been selected for further studies based on their selective antitumoral activity and 14 samples have been selected based on their anti-infective activity.

The screening of the selected samples has been performed by Fundación MEDINA – a non-profit research organization, leader in the discovery of novel bioactive compounds from microbial natural products (NPs) to be developed as new drugs for top priority therapeutic needs.

Scientific Director Fundación MEDINA, Olga Genilloud notes, “We are very interested to study further the antitumor and anti-infective bioactivities we have identified in the lignin derived samplesobtained by our partner teams at KelAda and the University of Helsinki. Looking forward to continuing the exploration of this untapped biobased feedstock.”

The PROSPLIGN project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Programme of the European Union under
Grant Agreement n° 101135298. Four universities, two SMEs and a research institute from six different European countries form the project consortium. The partners include KelAda Pharmachem (Ireland), University of Helsinki (Finland), Fundación MEDINA (Spain), NOVA University Lisbon (Portugal), University College Dublin (Ireland), Magfi (Malta) and the Bern University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland).

For more information, please contact:                                                       

Zoi Volioti – PROSPLIGN media contact – zoivol@magfi.eu