Partners

Joint Research Unit IATE, France — INRAE, University of Montpellier, Institut Agro Montpellier
The Joint Research Unit Agropolymer Engineering and Emerging Technologies (UMR IATE) develops, through a multidisciplinary and multi-scale scientific approach, emerging tools and technologies for the analysis, processing, and valorization of agropolymers and renewable organic resources from agriculture, forestry, and the agri-food industries. It has recognized expertise in fractionation, dry separation, structuring, hydrothermal treatment of agropolymers, as well as in the characterization of granular media and plant powders.
Two teams will be particularly involved in the RAFINNOBIO project:
- PLANET platform (PLAtform for Natural resources Engineering and Transformation): a technology platform dedicated to the processing and valorization of natural resources.
- PhyProDiv (PHYsics of PROcesses and DIVided plant-based materials): a team that develops experimental and modelling approaches to understand, design, and optimize processes involving divided plant solids.

BioWooEB Research Unit, France — CIRAD
The BioWooEB Research Unit conducts research on the valorization of Mediterranean and tropical lignocellulosic biomass into materials, energy, and bioproducts. It draws on its expertise in biomass knowledge and characterization to incorporate resource variability and environmental impacts into process optimization, particularly at the local scale in developing countries.
Its work covers three major areas of application:
- Materials for sustainable construction;
- Decentralized energy, across a wide range of scales and technologies;
- Bioproducts obtained through extraction, contributing to improving the performance of materials and energy systems.
The Bioenergy, Materials, and Plant-derived Molecules teams, together with the biomass-to-energy platform dedicated to thermochemical processes, will contribute their expertise on biomass valorization into energy, materials, and bioproducts to the RAFINNOBIO project.

QualiSud Joint Research Unit, France — CIRAD, Institut Agro Montpellier, Institut des Régions Chaudes, University of Montpellier, Avignon University, University of La Réunion, IRD
The QualiSud Joint Research Unit develops an integrated approach to producing and preserving foods with optimal organoleptic, sanitary, and nutritional quality.
The IPPD team (Engineering of Sustainable Products and Processes), specializing in process engineering, optimization, and multi-criteria analysis for the sustainable processing of tropical and Mediterranean agri-food products, will be particularly involved in RAFINNOBIO.
The technical hall dedicated to innovative agri-food processes for the processing and stabilization of tropical products will also be involved.

LABAAM, Senegal — Gaston Berger University
The Laboratory of Biological, Agronomic, Food Sciences and Modelling of Complex Systems conducts research on the quality and processing of agro-resources, innovation and competitiveness in food value chains, as well as the links between nutrition, health, and health risks.
Within the framework of RAFINNOBIO, two teams will be particularly involved:
- TEQALIM, specializing in process engineering applied to agro-resources and food;
- GRAB, with expertise in biomass characterization and biotechnology.

LEITER, Senegal — Gaston Berger University
The Laboratory of Electronics, Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Renewable Energies covers a broad field of research, ranging from electronic systems and image processing to materials, renewable energies, and semiconductors.
The Renewable Energy and Environment team will contribute directly to the project, in connection with the work of the LGBP Lab.
RAFINNOBIO will rely on three platforms managed by the LABAAM and LEITER laboratories at UGB:
- The biomass-to-energy platform;
- The bioproducts platform, currently being established as part of the PEA IDBIO;
- The agri-food platform, led by LABAAM.