Dr. Maame Ekua Manful

Technological University Dublin

Maame Ekua Manful, PhD, is a food scientist specializing in upcycled foods and circular economies. She focuses on the safety and regulation of novel proteins and has successfully commercialized biofortified products to combat malnutrition.

Presentation:
Safety aspects of valorised olive, grape, and almond side streams

Key Points:
• The processing of olives, grapes, and almonds generates substantial by-products that contain nutrients and bioactive compounds with potential for value added applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.
• The UP4HEALTH project developed sustainable biorefineries to recover high value lipid extracts, polyphenol rich fibres, fruit water, and xylo oligosaccharides from these by-products for nutraceutical and cosmetic uses.
• Demonstrating the safety of the valorised ingredients is essential for regulatory compliance and market authorisation.
• A comprehensive safety evaluation framework combining hazard characterisation, in vitro toxicology, and in silico ADME studies was applied to generate evidence supporting their safe use.