• An innovative agro-industrial process will eliminate gluten from spelt and barley flours, while maintaining their nutritional benefits.
• The project is committed to promoting healthier children's nutrition, based on organic and local production.

The BABY GRAINS Operational Group (GO) is working on the development of new, healthy, sustainable, and gluten-free baby foods made from whole-grain flours from organic grains that originally contain gluten, such as barley and spelt. The project seeks to improve the nutritional offering for children without sacrificing the value of whole grains, while also contributing to the promotion of organic farming in Aragon.

Despite the general advance of organic production in Spain, the area dedicated to this model in Aragon remains very limited, especially for the cultivation of cereals such as spelt.

GO BABY GRAINS offers a real alternative to this challenge, combining sustainable production, technological innovation, and local distribution models to respond to both agricultural challenges and the food needs of families.

Goals

GO BABY GRAINS sets two main objectives:

1. Develop two ranges of organic baby food: one with gluten and one without, the latter using a technological process capable of eliminating gluten without losing the nutritional properties of the base flour.

2. Promote the innovative marketing of these products through cooperative supermarkets and specialized distribution channels, focusing on localization and the added value of the organic model.

"The challenge lies in creating gluten-free products that maintain their quality and nutritional value. That's why we work with grains like barley, rich in beta-glucans, and spelt, and we apply new processing technologies to maintain all their properties," explains Raquel Ciércoles, from the Project Management Department of the Aragon Foundation for Agrifood Innovation and Transfer (FITA).

Results

Although the project is currently underway, several results are expected in both the short and medium term:

• Ecological and efficient production of spelt, a barley with a high beta-glucan content, using sustainable agricultural practices and digital tools to optimize water use.

• Obtaining whole-grain flours using milling and roasting techniques that respect the nutritional quality of the grain.

• Application of an innovative biotechnological process to eliminate gluten in order to achieve foods suitable for celiac patients.

• Development of prototypes of baby foods such as cereals or cookies with optimal nutritional and sensory properties.

• Food safety assessment and use of sustainable packaging that guarantees product quality.

• Design of marketing and promotion strategies based on preference studies conducted by consumers in real-life sales environments.

Participants and funding

The BABY GRAINS Operational Group is coordinated by FITA and includes the following collaborators:

• Union of Farmers and Ranchers of Aragon (UAGA-COAG).

• Biopalacín Plantet SL

• Coopolis S. Coop. (Neighborhood, Cooperative Supermarket)

• Center for Agri-Food Research and Technology of Aragon (CITA) .

• University of Zaragoza .

• Bread Free .

The project has been funded with 237,042 euros from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) through the Government of Aragon , through the Cooperation measure of Operational Groups of the European Association for Innovation in Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (AEI-Agri) .