DEMETER is mainly focused on local raw biomass material and bio-based products and derivatives indicated in two recents EU technical informs. A biorefinery cascade approach will be applied to prepare  the targeted BBPs from the corresponding biomass.

Joining both concepts, the raw material available in our area and the BBPs defined in both EU technical studies, led to the main aim of DEMETER: obtain valuable compounds from three local non-edible biomass: almond shells, peach stones and crocus leaves. Almond shells are a typical lignocellulosic material with approximately 1/3 of each cellulose, hemicellulose and of lignin content. Peach stone contains lipids and proteins (16% and 7%, respectively), mainly in the peach almond,  in addition to lignocellulose (70%). Finally, crocus leaves are rich in polysaccharides (30%) and bio-active compounds (1,5 g GA/100 g). The use of biocatalysts based on fungal resting cells defines the fourth local biomass to be used to prepare one of bio-based chemical product, biotechnological chitosan, described in the EU studies indicated above.

Catalytic and biocatalytic approaches, deep eutectic solvents (DES), ultrasounds and microwave irradiation will be the main tools used for achieving the objectives. Bio-based DES will be prepared from crude glycerol. Afterwards, we will study in a cascade approach the capability of these solvents to fractionate and transform the target biomass using chemoenzymatic approaches. The biomass will be used to afford some of the BBPs defined by the EU informs^[1,2] such as: a) nanocellulose from cellulose, b) 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) also from cellulose; c) high-grade lignin, alkyl and polyphenols mixtures, liquid aromatics and alkanes-type compounds; d) vegetable oils and fatty esters. In addition, and considering the cascade and circular approaches, we will intend to obtain compounds such as: a) biotechnological chitosan from fungal chitin, also a platform chemical according EU reports b) proteins c)  bio-active low molecular weight compounds. Finally, we will focus on the preparation of commercial products such as a) 5-EMFand 2,5-BEMF (biofuel additives) b) FDCA from 5-HMF, c) liquid biofuels from lignin, d) asphalts using lignin fractions as component, e) novel carbon-based catalysts from different biomass fractions e) esterified nanocellulose using recovered fatty acids and f) peptones for microbiological media. Finally, LCA studies will be performed to determine the critical points in order to design improved procedures. Besides this, DEMETER aims to communicate and disseminate the results in both scientific forums and society.