- micropress :
The MICROPRESS project was born from a need of pressing small amounts of seeds to extract oil for research purposes. Since no existing device was satisfactory, a group of researchers from INRA, CNRS and AgroParisTech teamed with an engineering office specialized in the automotive industry to develop of a new press concept (study and prototype funded by LABEX SPS and 3BCAR) ).
A second prototype financed by the Paris-Saclay IDEX through a pre-maturation project, fully validated the concept that now allows extracting oil from as little as 100 mg of seeds (rapeseed or arabidopsis or even a single soybean seed) but also micro-algae or yeasts.
This pre-maturation project has led to a patent.
- Development of a biocontrol strategy
Although abiotic constraints have a strong, negative impacts on crop yields, pre- and post-harvest losses caused by microbial pathogens remains highly significant, accounting for up to one third in some instances. Up to now, the use of biocidal phyto-pharmaceuticals directly targeting pathogens is still one of the preferred methods to cope with crop infection. However, there is a current need to find alternative strategies, which are durable and respectful to the environment, consumers and farmers. Biocontrol is one such method that is defined by “the use of all means that exploit natural mechanisms for protecting plants” (French Ministry of Agriculture). These include « micro-organisms, macro-organisms, chemical mediators and any molecules of animal, plant and mineral origin » (French Ministry of Agriculture). We recently got a project (STOP PATHO) funded by the IDEX Paris-Saclay for working on a lipid molecules, ultimately destined to integrate a biocontrol approach towards plant diseases caused by bacteria, fungi and oomycetes.
The MICROPRESS project was born from a need of pressing small amounts of seeds to extract oil for research purposes. Since no existing device was satisfactory, a group of researchers from INRA, CNRS and AgroParisTech teamed with an engineering office specialized in the automotive industry to develop of a new press concept (study and prototype funded by LABEX SPS and 3BCAR) ).
A second prototype financed by the Paris-Saclay IDEX through a pre-maturation project, fully validated the concept that now allows extracting oil from as little as 100 mg of seeds (rapeseed or arabidopsis or even a single soybean seed) but also micro-algae or yeasts.
This pre-maturation project has led to a patent.
- Development of a biocontrol strategy
Although abiotic constraints have a strong, negative impacts on crop yields, pre- and post-harvest losses caused by microbial pathogens remains highly significant, accounting for up to one third in some instances. Up to now, the use of biocidal phyto-pharmaceuticals directly targeting pathogens is still one of the preferred methods to cope with crop infection. However, there is a current need to find alternative strategies, which are durable and respectful to the environment, consumers and farmers. Biocontrol is one such method that is defined by “the use of all means that exploit natural mechanisms for protecting plants” (French Ministry of Agriculture). These include « micro-organisms, macro-organisms, chemical mediators and any molecules of animal, plant and mineral origin » (French Ministry of Agriculture). We recently got a project (STOP PATHO) funded by the IDEX Paris-Saclay for working on a lipid molecules, ultimately destined to integrate a biocontrol approach towards plant diseases caused by bacteria, fungi and oomycetes.
Leader:
Jean-Denis Faure