BrewSelBar project launches to turn brewing by-products into resilient crops and functional beverages

PRESS RELEASE

Barcelona, Spain

January 2026

A new EU-funded research project, BrewSelBar, officially launches this week, bringing together universities, industry partners and innovation experts to transform brewer’s spent grain into a high-value, selenium-enriched biostimulant for barley cultivation. The project kicked off on Thursday, 29 January 2026, with a consortium meeting hosted at Sala de Juntes, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

Addressing a dual challenge

Every year, Europe’s brewing sector produces millions of tonnes of brewer’s spent grain (BSG). Despite its rich nutritional composition, this by-product remains largely underutilised. At the same time, barley - central to brewing and food systems - is increasingly exposed to climate-related stresses such as drought, heat and soil degradation, placing pressure on farmers to maintain yields and quality.

BrewSelBar addresses these challenges by valorising BSG into a selenium-enriched, plant-based biostimulant designed to enhance barley stress tolerance, improve crop performance, and contribute to human selenium intake through food and beverages.

From by-product to bio-solution

By combining advanced extraction technologies with selenium enrichment and rigorous laboratory and field validation, BrewSelBar will develop and test a novel biostimulant derived entirely from brewing by-products. The project aims to support sustainable agriculture while enabling the production of selenium-enriched barley-based beverages, including beer and non-alcoholic products.

“BrewSelBar is about closing loops between agriculture, industry and nutrition,” said the UAB Project Coordinator, Assoc. Prof. María Jesús Sánchez Martín. “By turning an abundant brewing by-product into a tool for crop resilience and functional foods, we are creating value across the entire chain-from grain to glass.”

Scientific ambition and scope

Over its four-year duration, BrewSelBar will:

• Optimise extraction processes for brewer’s spent grain

• Develop safe, bioavailable selenium enrichment strategies

• Validate biostimulant performance under laboratory and open-field conditions

• Assess impacts on barley yield, stress tolerance and grain quality

• Explore downstream applications in barley-derived food and beverage products

The project aligns closely with EU priorities under the European Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy, supporting sustainable farming, resource efficiency and circular bioeconomy models.

An international partnership

The BrewSelBar consortium brings together five European beneficiaries and two associated partners from Argentina, spanning academic research, industrial seed production, food and beverage innovation, and dissemination expertise. Coordinated by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the partnership covers the full value chain from fundamental research to market-oriented assessment and stakeholder engagement.

Media contact:Lesley Tobin, REDINN: lesleytobin@gmail.com

BrewSelBar Consortium

• Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) – Coordinator

  
  

  Led by Assoc. Prof. María Jesús Sánchez Martín, UAB coordinates the project and leads laboratory-scale optimisation, selenium speciation analysis, quality assurance, and overall project management.

• Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU)

  
  

  DTU contributes expertise in bioprocess engineering, supporting BSG extraction optimisation, scale-up of the biostimulant, and open-field application design.

• Technical University Dublin (TUD)

  
  

  TUB focuses on the development of barley-derived products at laboratory scale and contributes to product characterisation and analytical assessment.

• Semillas Batlle SA (BATLLE)

  
  

  BATLLE provides agricultural and seed-sector expertise, leading open-field barley trials and supporting selenium biofortification under real farming conditions.

• REDINN SRL (REDINN)

  
  

  REDINN leads dissemination, communication and exploitation activities, including stakeholder engagement, science cafés, market analysis and uptake pathways.

• Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMDP) – Associated Partner

  
  

  UNMDP supports laboratory-scale extraction optimisation, selenium enrichment strategies, and physiological and biochemical evaluation of treated barley.

• Milton SA (ANTARES) – Associated Partner

  
  

  ANTARES contributes to pilot product development, sensorial assessment, and market-oriented evaluation of selenium-enriched barley-derived products.

This project has received funding from the European Community’s Horizon-MSCA-2024-SE-01 under grant agreement nº 101236623. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.