Matís
It will be real fun for the whole family, as Stjörnu Sævar will visit the area, face painting for the children and exciting science stations for young and old.
Here you can see the event on Facebook.
The doctoral defense will take place in the Celebration Hall of the University of Iceland's Main Building at 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Opponents will be Dr. Barbro Kollander, senior scientist at the Swedish Food Agency and Dr. Kristmann Gíslason, professional manager of the chemical analysis group at the Icelandic Marine Research Institute. The supervisor is Ásta Heiðrún Pétursdóttir, PhD in chemical analysis and expert at Matís.
The doctoral committee also includes Dr. Guðmundur Haraldsson professor emeritus, dr. Jörg Feldmann, head of the Trace Element Speciation Laboratory (TESLA) at the University of Graz in Austria, and Dr. Karl Gunnarsson, biologist at the Icelandic Marine Research Institute.
The director of defense is Dr. Einar Örn Sveinbjörnsson, dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Iceland.
Rebecca is from North-East Scotland but moved to Iceland in 2020 to study for a PhD. She completed a BSc in Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and an MSc in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Aberdeen. Rebecca currently works as an expert in Matís' chemical analysis group.
The following is an abstract of the essay:
Algae can absorb large amounts of the element arsenic from the sea in the form of inorganic arsenic, which is a known carcinogen. In the algae, arsenic is also detected in the form of diverse organic compounds of arsenic, for example arsenosaccharides and arsenolipids, but organic arsenic species have been considered harmless. However, recent research on arsenolipids has shown that they can be as cytotoxic as inorganic arsenic, and it is possible that arsenosugars have long-term negative effects with regular consumption. There is a lot of mystery about the origin of arsenolipids, but the starting point of their production is believed to take place in algae. Algae are becoming more and more popular in the West. More information on these compounds is urgently needed to fully assess the risks associated with their consumption and to ensure that appropriate regulations are established regarding their maximum levels in food. Samples of red, green and brown algae were collected near Grindavík and Kjalarnes. The samples were thoroughly analyzed for heavy metals and an arsenic analysis was carried out to obtain information on the chemical form of the arsenic. The speciation of arsenolipids is complex and was carried out in selected samples with mass spectrometry HPLC-ICP-M/ESI-MS/MS and HPLC-qToF-MS. In addition, brown macroalgae were divided into biological fractions to determine whether the distribution of arsenic species is uniform throughout the seaweed. Limited information is available globally on algal arsenolipids, so this extensive profiling of them in different species of algae will help elucidate how these enigmatic organic arsenic compounds are formed and where they are stored. The data can also be used for risk assessment of arsenic species in seaweed for human consumption and can therefore influence future food safety legislation.
The project will consolidate these solutions into an Area-Based Management Decision Support Framework (ABM-DSF), which will be demonstrated at five different study sites across Europe, including Norway, Iceland, Ireland, the Azores, and Portugal. BioProtect will actively engage with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation and utilization of its solutions by end-users. By raising awareness and enabling stakeholders and citizens to participate in the decision-making process, BioProtect empowers them to protect and restore marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
Sophie Jensen, Coordinator of BioProtect, highlights the project's potential impact:
„BioProtect is an innovative project poised to address the urgent need for comprehensive and sustainable solutions to mitigate the effects of human-induced pressures and climate change on marine ecosystems. Through collaborative research, innovation, and strategic partnerships, we aim to deliver a framework that not only preserves but also restores marine biodiversity.“
The project's diverse consortium will convene on May 22-23, 2024, in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the Kick-off Meeting. This event will bring together all project partners in a collaborative effort to plan the project's next steps and start delivering impact-driven solutions that effectively address biodiversity loss and climate change.
With its robust framework and collaborative approach, the BioProtect project holds promise and potential for introducing a new era of marine biodiversity conservation and restoration in European seas.
MATIS is a governmentally owned non-profit company based in Reykjavík, Iceland. MATIS is coordinating the BioProtect project. The Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute is also a key partner in the projects' administration as Julian M. Burgos is the Scientific leader of BioProtect.
If you would like more information about this topic, please call Sophie Jensen at +354 4225025 or email at sophie.jensen@matis.is.
The Accelwater project is about accelerating the cycle of water in the food and beverage industry across Europe, but the main goal of the project is to use value from water and reduce fresh water consumption during food processing. Numerous food producers and research partners are involved in the project, but Matís leads the work package that relates to Iceland, and here the emphasis is on land processing of whitefish and land farming of salmon. In addition to Matís, the Icelandic participants in the project are the University of Iceland's Faculty of Food and Nutrition, Útgerðarfélag Akureyri and Samherji Fiskeldi.
At the workshop, Hildur and Sæmundur presented the latest news about the Icelandic work package. The main news was about the installation of flow and energy sensors in whitefish processing in order to measure changes and achieve both water and energy savings in the processing. There, a master's student from Denmark is working on his final project around this work.
During the land fire, progress was reviewed in experiments with the utilization of sludge for fertilizer production. There is a system that filters the sludge and results in a mass of dry matter that can be used, among other things, in biogas or fertilizer. Experiments with dry bleeding of salmon and the possible use of salmon blood for value creation were also reviewed.
Finally, the results of the life cycle analysis, which is being worked on with the University of Iceland, were reviewed. The water use and environmental impact of the aquaculture industry and feed production are currently being analyzed there using the methodology of life cycle analysis.
In addition to this presentation, partners in the project located in Spain were visited. The meat processing company BETA was visited and the conditions were examined, but they are working to convert waste from the processing into value. MAFRICA's meat processing plant was also visited and they could see the waste treatment process developed in the Accelwater project. The waste/pig excrement is then put through a water purification process and a biogas plant, and the result is reusable water and energy, among other things in the form of biogas.
At the end of the trip, they had the opportunity to see the beautiful Montserrat mountain.
More information about the Accelwater project can be found here: Accelwater: Accelerating Water Circularity in Food and Beverage Industrial Areas around Europe
Contact
Director of Business and Development
jonas@matis.is
Most Icelandic fishmeal producers already use NIR to measure the chemical content of the fishmeal, and thus get good indications of its quality. However, the NIR measurements that are carried out today are of limited use when it comes to assessing the quality of the fishmeal for its main use, i.e. as an ingredient in aquaculture feed. If such measurements are to be made, growth and digestibility experiments must be carried out in aquaculture, which are both time-consuming and costly. By developing a NIR prediction model, however, it is possible to shorten the time of the analyzes from many months to a few seconds, and the cost from many millions to almost nothing.
This is not a new approach, as Norwegian feed producers developed such NIR prediction models a few years ago and have used them to assess the quality of the fishmeal they buy. However, these manufacturers have considered their predictive models to be trade secrets, giving them a competitive advantage. By developing and making similar forecasting models available to Icelandic fishmeal producers, they will have the same (or better) information about the characteristics of their production as their customers, and therefore enable them to negotiate prices with their customers on an equal footing. The predictive model will also enable fishmeal producers to evaluate/improve their own production, with information for internal quality control. The database/prediction model will be handed over to the participants (fishmeal producers) towards the end of the project, together with the fact that courses on its use will be held.
As mentioned before, the project will take two years, and that work is now halfway done. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.
You can learn more about the project at Matís website, in addition to which you can contact the project manager directly jonas@matis.is.
The doctoral defense takes place in Vigdís's world - VHV023 and starts at 1:30 p.m
Opponents: Dr. David Pearce, professor at Northumbria University, UK, and dr. Catherine Larose, researcher at UGA-IGE in Grenoble, France.
Supervising teacher and instructor: Viggó Þór Marteinsson, professor. In addition, researcher Pauline Vannier, Tina Santl-Temkiv, assistant professor at Aarhus University, and Charles Cockell, professor at the University of Edinburgh, sat on the doctoral committee.
Ólöf Guðný Geirsdóttir, professor and dean of the Faculty of Food and Nutrition, presides over the ceremony.
The stream is available on Teams from 13:30.
- Meeting ID: 393 367 671 646
- Passcode: adzWK5
Microbes on the Earth's surface can be released into the atmosphere by wind and associated with events such as volcanic eruptions and dust storms. Before they reach a new surface, they are exposed to various stressful environmental factors that prevent the colonization of a large part of them. The diversity and evolution of low bacterial communities in different environments has been quite well studied. However, little is still known about microbial communities in the atmosphere, their colonization on the surface and what effect such colonization has on the microbial communities that are there. This study is the first to discuss the distribution of microorganisms in the Icelandic atmosphere and especially their colonization in a volcanic environment. Airborne microbial communities from two unique but different volcanic areas, both at sea level and at high altitude, were examined and compared. The research was carried out on the protected volcanic island of Surtsey and at the lava flow on Fimmvörðuhálsi, by analyzing the microbial communities of the atmosphere and their colonization in lava rock after one year. The atmosphere was also studied as an important source for the distribution of microbial communities in the soil and the methods by which microbes manage to withstand the harsh environmental conditions of the atmosphere. Cultivable and non-cultivable microbial detection methods were used to describe and compare the microbial communities. The diversity of uncultivated microbes was analyzed by isolating DNA from 179 samples and sequencing the 16S rRNA gene of the microbes ("amplicon" sequencing). A total of 1162 strains belonging to 40 genera and 72 species were isolated. Of these, 26 strains were probably new species. One new Flavobacterium species was fully described and the resistance of selected strains to atmospheric stressors was investigated. The origin and trajectory of the populations was determined with a special prediction model "source-tracking analysis". Results show that the microbial communities at both sampling sites consisted of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroides, but the proportion of their numbers was controlled by the environmental factors of each area. The aerial and terrestrial communities were very different, which is reflected in the different environmental aspects of each environment. Interestingly, the bacterial communities in the lava rock at Fimmvörðuhálsi were more or less the same after one year of colonization, compared to a nine-year period, which suggests that the stability of the first settler community is achieved after one year, but that the progress of the community slows down after that. At Surtsey, over 80% of bacterial communities found in lava rock after a one-year period originated from the local environment. The communities showed tolerance to atmospheric stressors, which probably helped them to survive air dispersal and facilitated their colonization of the lava rock. In accordance with previous studies, it was also found that the most influential selection factors were freezing, thawing and cyclic permeabilization of the cells, and that Proteobacteria and Ascomycota seemed best suited to survive such atmospheric stress factors. Results indicate that stress-resistant microbes from the atmosphere are the source of microbes that are the first settlers in the nearby, newly formed environment by forming unique and diverse microbial communities in a short time or less than a year. These results provide important insights into the early stages of microbial colonization and demonstrate the importance of airborne microbial studies to advancing our understanding of Arctic volcanic ecosystems.
Surface microorganisms can be aerosolized into the atmosphere by wind and events such as volcano eruptions and dust storms. Before depositing, they experience stressful atmospheric conditions which preclude the successful dispersal of a large fraction of cells. While bacterial diversity and succession on different low-bacterial environments are reasonably well characterized, research on airborne atmospheric communities and the significance of their deposition for community assembly remains poorly understood. This study is the first to address microbial distribution in the Icelandic atmosphere and particularly in their colonization in volcanic environments. We assessed and compared the bioaerosols communities from two dissimilar unique volcanic sites located at sea level and at high altitude, the protected volcanic island Surtsey and Fimmvörðuháls lava field, by analyzing in situ atmospheric microbial communities and communities in lava rocks after one year of exposure time . Additionally, we investigated the air as a significant source for the dissemination of the microbial communities into soil and their potential strategies to withstand atmospheric stresses. Culture-dependent and culture-independent methods were employed to describe and compare these microbiomes. The uncultivated diversity was analyzed by DNA extraction from 179 samples and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. A total of 1162 strains were isolated and affiliated to 40 genera and 72 species, with potentially 26 new species. A new Flavobacterium species was fully described and the survival of selected strains against simulated air stress factors was investigated. The origin and dispersion of the isolates was predicted using a detailed source-tracking analysis program.
Our findings reveal that the microbial communities in both sampling sites are dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroides, but their proportions were influenced by the unique characteristics of each site. The atmospheric and lithospheric communities showed significant differences, reflecting different environmental pressures from each site. Interestingly, the bacterial communities in the lava rocks of Fimmvörðuháls were similar after one year compared to nine years of exposure, suggesting rapid microbial colonization and slow succession of the community. On Surtsey, over 80% of the bacterial communities that colonized the lava rocks after one year exposure, originated from local surroundings. These communities displayed stress-resistant properties that likely helped their survival during air dissemination from close environments and facilitated their colonization into the lava. Furthermore, in line with previous studies, we observed that the most stringent selection factors were the freeze–thaw and osmotic shock cycles and that the strains affiliated with Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the best to survive simulated atmospheric stresses. Our results suggest that atmospheric stress-resistant microbes that deposit from local sources in newly formed environments, form unique and diverse communities in a rather short time or less than one year. These findings provide important insights into the early stages of land colonization of microbes and puts emphasis on the important role of bioaerosol research in enhancing our understanding of subarctic volcanic ecosystems.
Natalie is a five-year project, which will be carried out by 42 participants from all over Europe. Iceland's role in the project is to verify new implementations of nature-based methods for assessing the effects of climate change on coastal areas and their ecosystems. The project is extensive and complex in its entire implementation, and the meeting was aimed at getting everyone to the table, introducing themselves and the parts of the project that each has at their disposal.
During the meeting, the management part of the project was thoroughly reviewed, i.e. what is expected of each of its members. There was also a presentation of all seven work parts of the project (e. work package, WP) together with the presentation of all the 42 parties involved in the project, i.e. their participation in the project and their background.
The meeting days were long but successful as planned. In addition, people managed to talk to each other and get to know each other, which is an extremely important part of such busy projects that cover as long a time as Natalie's proposed five years.
After the meeting, it is clear that there are exciting times ahead as Matís will participate in the development of the evaluation of new solutions to prevent the loss of important ecosystems. The challenges of climate change are numerous, including the threat to ecosystems that support food production, thereby threatening our food security as a nation due to local changes, but also on a global scale.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe program under grant agreement N° 101112859
This freezing method is a novelty in this country and it is mostly unknown in Europe but slightly known in Asia. It is estimated that the experiments will take six months, so the first results could be available in the middle of next year. The intention is to get a picture of how ultrasonically frozen salmon fillets react compared to conventional blast freezing, and not least of all the effects of such freezing on the product in the long term.
During traditional blast freezing, Sigurður J. Bergsson, Frost's technical director, says that the cell walls in the fish flesh burst and the cell liquid should thus clear its way out. When the fish fillet is thickened, the liquid leaks out and the quality of the fish decreases considerably. With the magnetic and sound wave freezing, the cell walls are prevented from bursting and the liquid from leaving the fish flesh. This keeps the freshness of the product. "The market has increased demands for fresh frozen products, and with this freezing method we believe that the seafood industry can meet them with the supply of fresh seafood with a much longer shelf life than is possible today," says Sigurður.
Magnetic and acoustic wave freezing can be described as a green technology with high energy efficiency, where sound waves are used to control and reduce the structure of crystals in fish and meat. Sigurður says this method improves the freezing process and speeds it up, it produces more uniform and smaller ice crystals, it slows down oxidation changes, which leads to significantly less damage to the food.
Sigurður says that the magnetic and sonic wave freezing has been tested on various types of products and preliminary results show that products frozen using this method taste almost as fresh.
It will be interesting to see what this research by Matís, Odda and Frost on salmon reveals. If it gives positive results and researchers become even more convinced of the feasibility of further developing this technology, Sigurður believes that the fishing companies will quickly take over. Kælismiðjan Frost and Matís have worked with the fishing industry on various solutions over the years, both for whiting and pelagic fish, so there is a lot of experience and trust. The goal is always to do even better for the fishing industry companies in the country.
A discussion from Kælismiðinn Frost about the project can be read in its entirety here: Frost introduces magnetic and acoustic wave freezing at the 2023 Marine Industry Conference
The Fisheries Conference was held in Harpa last week and there was a seminar dedicated to development in freezing technology. Sæmundur Elíasson, project manager at Matís, and Sigurjón Arason, chief engineer at Matís, gave a talk there. Sæmundur talked about recent technological developments in freezing and thawing, and Sigurjón about freezing before and after freezing. In the language institute, Sigurður Bergsson from Kælismiðinn Frost presented research on magnetic and sound wave freezing.
Three students worked on the project this summer and carried out experiments with dry bleeding of salmon in slaughter, collection and analysis of salmon blood and evaluation of the effect of different bleeding methods on fillet quality. Salmon blood was collected at slaughter using equipment specially designed and built for the project. The nutritional values of the blood were studied and the quality and shelf life of the fillets were assessed using different methods, because it is important that the quality of the fish does not deteriorate during the process.
Sæmundur Elíasson verkefnastjóri hjá Matís var einn af leiðbeinendum nemendanna í verkefninu og kynnti hluta af niðurstöðum þess á 51. ráðstefnu WEFTA sem fram fór í Kaupmannahöfn 16.-20. október síðastliðinn. West European Fish Technologists Association eða WEFTA er vettvangur þar sem margt fremsta vísindafólk Evrópu á sviði rannsókna á sjávarfangi og nýtingu þess kemur saman og ber saman bækur sínar. Áhersla ráðstefnunnar í ár var ,,sjálfbær nýting sjávarfangs“.
The results of the project provided design criteria useful for the development of technical solutions for dry bleeding of farmed salmon and also demonstrated that the dry bleeding process used did not have a negative effect on fillet quality. It is clear that the salmon blood itself can be a valuable by-product, it has multiple possibilities for utilization, is both iron and protein rich and could be a good food supplement for people. Considerable challenges lie in its collection and storage in large quantities for use, and this project is a good first step towards increased use and value creation of salmon blood.
Fyrri greinin sem bar yfirskriftina ,,Vilja leysa grænmetið undan plastfargani“ fjallar um verkefnið Challenges in packing vegetables which Ólafur Reykdal, project manager at Matís, has managed and is working in collaboration with the horticultural farmers' department in the Farmers' Association of Iceland, the Gardeners' Sales Association and the Association of Southern Municipalities with a grant from the Food Fund. It is hoped that the project will lead to progress on packaging
of various foods, although vegetables are particularly studied here and also pave the way for new types of packaging materials.
The article can be read in its entirety on page 16 of Bændablaðin and here: Bændabladlad 19 October 2023
The second article included an interview with Eva Margréti Jónudóttir, project manager at Matís, who discussed the project Valorisation of side streams from Icelandic horticulture led by Rósa Jónsdóttir, professional director of biomaterials. The project is carried out in collaboration with Orkídeu and the Icelandic Farmers' Association with funding from the Food Fund and aims to put cauliflower leaves, broccoli leaves, rose leaves, tomato leaves, cucumber leaves and carrot grass to better use than is currently done. They do this by studying nutritional value and bioactivity, but also by developing product ideas from these ingredients. The project will contribute to the sustainability of the vegetable sector in Iceland and assist in its development in relation to increased value creation, new job opportunities and innovations. The main goal of the project is to increase the value of vegetable production, improve utilization and increase sustainability.
In the interview, Eva says, among other things: ,, what stands out after this work - and what piqued her interest the most - is how many opportunities there are for further processing of this raw material. "We have been seeing quite a lot of antioxidant activity in rose leaves, which indicates that cuttings from rose cultivation can, for example, be an exciting raw material for the production of ingredients in cosmetic products." Cauliflower and broccoli leaves are somewhat less nutritious than the flower itself and there are no drawbacks to using them.
í matvæli“.
The article can be read in its entirety on pages 32 and 33 of Bændablaðin here: Bændabladlad 19 October 2023