As part of the IIS-PROTEWIN Strategic Innovation Initiative, the FEDER WAL’PROT project aims to develop sustainable technological solutions for manufacturers in the sector. In particular, it aims to promote protein sources from dedicated crops (peas, faba beans, etc.), alternative production (insects, microalgae) and industrial co-products in Wallonia.
From these different sources, sorting, extraction and transformation processes will be studied. Different analytical methods will make it possible to assess the quality of protein fractions and other fractions with a view to using them for human food, animal feed or even the materials sector.
Various operational objectives are planned, in which the CRA-W will be involved:
- Collecting samples of interest from dedicated crops based on available trials;
- Studying batch segmentation;
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Characterizing fractions resulting from batch segmentation with a view to their use in animal feed;
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Characterizing primary samples and fractions using reference methods and updating/developing calibrations using near-infrared spectroscopy;
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Conducting environmental and socio-economic LCA studies on protein sources from dedicated crops.
Funding
ERDF 2021-2027 Program
Publications
Vermeulen, P. , Paternostre, L. , Demoitié, C. & Baeten, V. (2026). Fiche Mobilab : 3 démonstrations dans le cadre du comité de pilotage Wal’Prot. Comité de Pilotage du projet Wal'Prot,
Vermeulen, P. , Paternostre, L. & Demoitié, C. (2026). Fiche ProxiScout : Prédiction de la teneur en protéine du pois avec un spectromètre proche infrarouge portable. Comité de Pilotage du projet Wal'Prot,
Vermeulen, P. & Demoitié, C. (2026). Fiche QSorter : Séparation du pois et du soja avec un trieur optique proche infrarouge. Comité de Pilotage du projet Wal'Prot,
Vermeulen, P. & Demoitié, C. (2026). Fiche SWIR : Evaluation des impuretés dans une production de féveroles par imagerie hyperspectrale proche infrarouge. Comité de Pilotage du projet Wal'Prot,
Vermeulen, P. , Sacre, F. , Demoitié, C. & Vincke, D. (2026). Optical sensors for agriculture and the agri-food industry. Poster in: International Spring School 2026, Liège, Belgium, 16 - 17 June.
Vincke, D. , Demoitié, C. , Fernández Pierna, J.A. , Vermeulen, P. , Kayoka, N. , Deryck, A. & Baeten, V. (2026). SWIR Hyperspectral Imaging Applications in impurities detection and quality assessment of seeds. Lecture in: Specim webinar SWIR Hyperspectral Imaging for Seed Analysis & Quality Inspection, February 5th 2026.
Demoitié, C. , Paternostre, L. , Werrie, P-Y. , Brichard, S. , Feryn, C. , Mauro, S. , Malice, D. , Rega, A. , Gofflot, S. , Pissard, A. , Baeten, V. & Vermeulen, P. (2025). Quality assessment of protein-rich crops using NIR spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging. Poster in: Protewin x like a PRO : strengthening the alternative protein network across Wallonia and Europe, Liège, 22 avril 2025.
