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The Agroressources FERmentation Enzymes- AFERE Chair, created in 2016, is a component of UMR FARE that brings together some 15 scientists (1 professor, 5 senior lecturers, 1 research engineer, 1 assistant engineer, 1 research technician, fixed-term contracts, PhD students, post-docs and interns).

The AFERE field  covers the exploration and use of microorganisms and enzymes to valorize plant biomass.

The scientific project of  AFERE  is based on the development of enzymatic and microbial processes to fractionate plant biomass into molecules of interest (sugars, phenolic molecules, enzymes, microbial secondary metabolites, biosourced surfactants, bioactive glycosides, etc.). The Chair thus targets applications in the bioenergy, cosmetics, detergents, chemicals, food and feed sectors. Through its innovations, it aims to respond to the scientific and societal challenges of the bioeconomy, with a focus on reality, competitiveness and sustainable development.

The AFERE scientists have expertise in :

• microbiology: microbial physiology, fermentation in liquid and solid media, isolated cultures and co-cultures
• molecular biology: heterologous cloning-expression, directed mutagenesis, transcriptomics-proteomics-genomics-metagenomics
• biocatalysis: production-characterization of new enzymes, hydrolysis reactions, transglycosylation, acylation, oxidation-reduction, bioelectrocatalysis
• analytical chemistry and evaluation of properties : antimicrobial, prebiotic, antioxidant
• bioinformatics : database mining, omics analysis

AFERE  is supported by national and international collaborations and partnerships with industry.

The FAREMAT Chair (Fragmentation of AgroResources & Environment in MATerials) is a Junior Professorship (CPJ) positioned within the FARE laboratory, launched in October 2022 for a four-year period in accordance with the French Research Programming Law.

The Chair's research focuses on the design of multi-functional and recyclable bio-based materials, with a particular emphasis on applications in the packaging, automotive and biomedical industries. The aim of the FAREMAT Chair is to encourage interaction with players involved in the valorization of plant biomass and the bioeconomy on a regional, national and international scale. To achieve this, the Chair draws on a range of technical tools and scientific knowledge, from the physical chemistry of lignocellulosic fillers to flow-induced structuring, enabling it to develop expertise in biomaterials processing.

4FM (FARE & FRD-LAB common laboratory for Future Fibres and Materials) is a laboratory "without walls" created with the FRD-CODEM technology resource centre in December 2022.

As part of an exclusive multi-year partnership agreement between FRD-CODEM and FARE, 4FM is developing a strategy aimed at providing farmers and manufacturers with innovative solutions for new integrated quality management strategies for biomass and lignocellulosic fractions, from the field to finished products. These solutions, which include decision-making tools, are based on the use of rapid, reliable and reproducible techniques, adapted to the intrinsic heterogeneity of plant resources, the multiplicity of transformations and the diversity of application markets and their specific features.

Through this "quality integration" approach, 4FM aims to be a major player in the deployment of solutions using plant biomass in materials, by offering manufacturers the possibility of easily controlling the biodiversity/heterogeneity of structures and properties to enhance the reliability of their products. This concerns i/ in the short term, the mature markets for petroleum- or bio-sourced organic matrix composites, where solutions are currently in demand; ii/ in the medium term, the growth markets of construction and textiles; and iii/ in the long term, the emerging markets for functional, biodegradable and recycled materials, etc.

The joint laboratory is both a place for producing knowledge about materials and for developing solutions for industrial partners to qualify these materials. It combines and amplifies the knowledge and skills of scientists, engineers and technicians from FARE (Reims) and FRD-CODEM (Troyes & Amiens). 4FM also pools the resources of the two organisations, providing a range of laboratory and pilot equipment that enables work to be carried out on scales ranging from molecules and polymers to finished materials.

4FM is co-directed by Bernard Kurek, INRAE Research Director, and Arnaud Day, FRD-CODEM Scientific Director.

BIOMATA is an international joint laboratory on biobased products between INRAE and Scion Institute in New Zealand. It was officially launched on 30 March 2023. BIOMATA will provide fundamental and applied knowledge using resources derived from plant biomass for the development of biobased materials aimed at designing the materials of the future. The research carried out is part of a circular economy approach, which minimises the ecological footprint of manufacturing processes and includes the end-of-life of products right from the design phase.

BIOMATA brings together SCION's "Materials, Engineering and Manufacturing" and "Chemistry and Physics" research groups, the UMR Ingénierie des agropolymères et technologies émergentes in Montpellier (responsible for BIOMATA: Claire Mayer), the UR Biopolymères, assemblages, interactions in Nantes (BIOMATA contact: Johnny Beaugrand) and the UMR Fractionnement des agroressources et environnement in Reims (BIOMATA contact: Gabriel Paës), three research units belonging to INRAE's TRANSFORM division.