Aquae Vitae project creates creams, foods and drinks based on thermal water

Cosmetic products, food and drinks and even recipes based on thermal water were developed within the scope of the Aquae Vitae project, the results of which will be presented on Monday, in Vidago, municipality of Chaves.

The project had an investment of 629 thousand euros, with financing of 504 thousand euros from the “la Caixa” Foundation.

The president of AquaValor – Center for the Valorization and Transfer of Water Technology and the Chamber of Boticas, Fernando Queiroga, told the Lusa agency today that the Alto Tâmega e Barroso wants to be known as a “territory of water and well-being”highlighting that the therapeutic qualities of its thermal water are not yet being “properly valued”.

The Aquae Vitae project explored the potential of using natural mineral waters in the areas of health and well-being, the cosmetic industry and gastronomy.

The executive director of AquaValor, Maria José Alves, explained that the hydrogenome of different mineral waters, such as thermal water from Chaves, Vimioso, Gerês and Monfortinho, was characterized, as well as their bioactivities (anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant) .

These studies provided greater knowledge of the benefits of natural mineral waters, paving the way for their practical application in health and well-being treatments.

Based on the properties of thermal waters, Aquae Vitae was extended to the creation of cosmetic products, through the combination of thermal water with the incorporation of natural-based bioactive compounds resulting from endogenous resources and/or agro-industrial waste, such as, for example, blueberry.

Maria José Alves stated that five thermal-based creams were developed and, in the food area, an isotonic drink, infusions, bread and pasta were created.

“What we did was evaluate the nutritional composition of these foods to understand whether or not these foods were enriched, and there is. Some of them mainly gain mineral salts,” she added.

A gastronomic portfolio was also developed, with recipes for organic products and made with thermal water, which will be presented, on Monday, by chefs Justa Nobre, Renato Cunha, Rui Mota and Vítor Cunha.

As part of the project, an assessment of the sustainability of local hydromineral and geothermal resources was also carried out.

In Chaves, heat from thermal waters is already used to heat public and private buildings, a geothermal network that is being expanded as part of a pilot project that also aims to help reduce energy bills.

“The project is a starting point for us to now improve some of these results, improve, resolve doubts, investigate further”, said the researcher.

The initiative was led by a consortium made up of AquaValor, the Mountain Research Center (CIMO), the Digitalization and Intelligent Robotics Research Center (CeDRI), the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Earth, Environment and Water Resources ( TARH) and the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL).

The meeting takes place at the Alves Teixeira Agricultural Training Center where, according to Fernando Queiroga, the aim is to create a Bioproducts Competence Center.

The application to implement the project was not approved and, therefore, the mayors of the Intermunicipal Community of Alto Tâmega and Barroso (CIMAT), want to insist and raise awareness, to this end, of the Secretary of State for Agriculture, who will be present at the forum .

“We want to recover this farm to give it a new life and experiment with organic products”, highlighted the mayor, explaining that we want “producers to have more profitability and create scale to enter commercial chains”.

CIMAT joined the international Bio Regions network in 2018, to value organic products in municipalities of Boticas, Chaves, Montalegre, Ribeira de Pena, Valpaços and Vila Pouca de Aguiar.