Vasilis Sapounas

Projects

Panacea, a fermented fruit pulp beverage

Panacea is a 250 mL fermented functional beverage made from upcycled fruit and vegetable pulp, a by-product of the juice industry, blended with Greek herbs. It has two flavours, Aegli and Machaon, and fully recyclable packaging. It was developed by a student team for ECOTROPHELIA, a competition in which university teams design eco-innovative food products.

Role
Co-founder and team manager; technology specialist, responsible for the process design, including fermentation optimisation, production scalability and sustainable packaging
Setting
Food Safety and Quality Laboratory, Agricultural University of Athens
Period
to present
Outcome
Second place, Greek national ECOTROPHELIA 2025 competition, awarded by SEVT, the Greek food industry federation, June 2025. Selected for the EIT Food Retail Mentorship Programme (product development, branding and market positioning), completed September 2025.
Restrictions
Only the concept and the ECOTROPHELIA result are public.

Identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms of fish

A student research team project using genomic techniques to study gene polymorphisms in edible fish species, towards a fast method for identifying species and habitat.

Role
Member of the student research team
Setting
EU-CONEXUS Student Research Hub
Period
to
Methods
  • Genomics
  • Molecular biology

Preparation, biochemical characterisation and in vitro testing of extracts of Tetraselmis chuii

A team project on preparing extracts of the microalga Tetraselmis chuii, characterising them biochemically and testing them in vitro.

Role
Team student manager; presented the work
Setting
EU-CONEXUS Student Research Hub
Period
to
Outcome
Best graded team award, Student Research Hub Evaluation Committee. Presented at the EU-CONEXUS EENVIRO Research Conference, Bucharest, 28 October to 1 November 2024.