Operational Group: Comprehensive use of Galician acorns as a strategy for enhancing and utilizing native hardwoods

The creation of this Operational Group aims to take advantage of the opportunities offered by acorn harvesting and assess the suitability of their subsequent processing, which would promote the conservation and development of the Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica species found in Galicia.

The study of this potential alternative could lead to an effective management tool for the conservation and recovery of Galician oak forests.

The different actions to be carried out are:

• To evaluate the comprehensive use of Galician acorns as an economic source of income and a supplement to the revenue of an organic farming operation.
• To specify and validate the potential uses derived from the transformation of Galician acorns into flours, plant extracts, etc., aimed at providing innovative raw materials for animal and human food (flours and extracts) and innovative ingredients for formulations in the cosmetics sector, especially natural and organic products (strata).
• Identify the basic parameters of current acorn production in a Galician oak forest: move toward appropriate forestry that increases yield and facilitates harvesting; estimate production costs for the entire harvesting process.
• Select the most productive fruits from the trees for future plantations for commercial exploitation and for the genetic improvement of the fruit species.