61282PommeACEClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UK**The project addresses an identified healthcare need and commercial demand for high-quality, sustainably-produced bioactive polyphenolic compounds.** Development of products derived from fruit and vegetables can support the recovery of individuals by enhancing their immune response, leading to faster recovery time or weakening future reinfection by mutated coronaviruses. A whole value-chain approach for capturing market-led business opportunities to reduce food wastage and increase availability of fruit and vegetable derived foods or supplements for consumers is proposed. Polyphenols are widely present in fruits and vegetables and consumption is known to provide a range of health benefits. Flavonoid polyphenols such as quercetin and derivatives, present in apple skin, have been shown to act as anti-oxidants; anti-viral and anti-inflammatory agents. Coronaviruses infect cells by binding to the angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2 (ACE2) membrane protein. This can be inhibited by quercetin, increasing resistance to infection. Quercetin can reduce the severity of the immune-response to infection and shorten recovery times. Quercetin is safe for consumption and is available as a supplement. Presently, it is imported and of variable purity and quality which have significant implications for consumer health and business reputation. Furthermore, there are issues concerning both the security and availability of supply. **The objective of the project is to develop a sustainable and efficient biorefinery process, to enable secure, local production of quercetin.** The by-products of apple juice production (apple pomace) available in the UK in large quantities, are not exploited and frequently disposed to landfill. The project combines recent advances in green-extraction techniques with highly-efficient separation methods, enabling quercetin recovery and purification. Additionally, the spent apple pomace can be further processed to provide a source of materials for applications such as sustainable biodegradable packaging. **The combination of technologies will be innovative; enabling creation of a biorefinery to scale-up production and supply in quantities required by UK industry, whilst reducing imports and creating employment**. Increased competitiveness with current environmentally damaging and less sustainable chemical production methods will be achieved increasing the market share. This will grow the UK economy and create employment opportunities, whilst ensuring security of supply. **The availability of sustainable, high purity, quercetin for use in supplements and food products will be increased**. The project focuses on production of high-purity quercetin for which there is a substantial market need. This will reduce the requirement for importation providing a source of additional income for apple growers, whilst reducing the quantity of waste food sent to landfill. Extension for Impact 1. enable the technical team to look at and evaluate the use of NADES and STARBONS, two naturally sourced extraction and separation media for the isolation of Quercetin and other polyphenols from agri-food by-products This approach offers: a. Sustainable ’Green Chemistry’ processing b. A novel platform technology, improving the production efficiency and c. Improving delivery efficiency 2. Allowing the commercial team to: a. build on market research data collated through email polls, with a focus group, identifying our true market b. allow us to determine the acceptability of using alternative delivery systems and routes