Institut Philibert Savours
The Institut Philibert Savours is a genuine research centre, specialising in the fermentation of cereals by lactic bacteria and yeasts of the bakery, Viennesse pastries and pâtisserie sectors. It is developing the next generation of sourdough starters.
The institute is a stakeholder in numerous innovation schemes, working alongside other industrial and academic bodies, as well as taking on university projects. The institute carries out appplied studies on innovative themes, such as nutrition, gluten-free foods, the environment and sourdough starters with specific technical properties…
The institutute is based at the Agrapôle in Lyon Gerland. It is at the heart of the food technology campus of the Ecole d’Ingénieurs Agroalimentaire Isara-Lyon. The institutute has a full analytical array and state of the art technology.
Experiments are carried out on a pilot fermentation plant. This is just like a full-size plant, but scaled down.
The physical characteristics of sourdough starters are exhaustively analysed, using techniques from physical chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as sensory analysis carried out by human beings.
Case study :
Philibert Savours is a leading stakeholder in the Proveggas (Protéines Végétales Gastronomiques) project, supported and subsidized by BPI France and the Ain department, which is researching ways of making vegetable proteins attractive to a wider public. The project has a particular focus on legumes and cereals.