Français	Contact Us	Help	Search	Canada Site

Home	Site Map	What's New	About Us	Registration


	The Application of Biotechnology to Industrial Sustainability
	Industrial Sustainability Through Biotechnology

Food

In the food sector, biotechnology has long played an accepted role in traditional processes, such as cheese making. Both traditional and modern biotechnology can be an important supportive tool for the food industry and give considerable added value to food products. When evaluating the use of biotechnology "from the farm to the fork", it is necessary to balance the environmental impact of commercial agriculture with that of alternative production routes, such as growth of microorganisms in fermentors or from fossil fuel feedstocks. Moreover, when evaluating the use of clean, rDNA-derived biotechnologies for foods, it is important to take social acceptability as well as economic benefits into account.

The environmental benefits of producing food additives by fermentation or enzymatic routes instead of traditional organic synthesis are similar to those for other specialty chemicals. In the case of fermentation-derived preservatives, the effect is even more favorable when the fermentation broth is incorporated in the finished product. In the most desirable situation, bacteriocin-producing cultures are used in fermented foods (such as sauerkraut), where they consume carbohydrates, naturally preserve the finished product, and contribute nutritive value of their own.

A biotechnology application with very great potential environmental benefit would convert waste streams from one process into raw materials for another, or upgrade underutilized raw materials into a more valuable form. Ideas abound, including alternative uses for the grape pomace left over from wine making, corn cobs as a substrate for citric acid production, and cranberry waste as a substrate for fungal bioinoculants. Use of the large quantities of whey produced during cheese making also hold out great promise. One successful approach has been the production of lactose-fermenting yeasts as flavoring ingredients.

Biotechnology-derived food additives

Food additives include gums, emulsifiers, vitamins, minerals, preservatives, leavening agents, acidulants, flavors, and colors. Consumer preferences for "natural" products give biotechnology-derived additives an advantage over chemically synthesized ones, if their cost is competitive. Examples of established biotechnology-derived additives include xanthan gum from Xanthomonas campestris and citric acid from Aspergillus niger. One of the most discussed potential applications is the production of natural flavors (like vanilla) by plant tissue culture, although this has not yet had a commercial impact. Combinations of glucose oxidase and other enzymes are being used to replace potassium bromate as an antioxidant in flour for bread making because of concern about bromate's possible carcinogenicity.

Fermentation-derived preservatives are another promising category. Most traditional food preservatives are chemically synthesized fatty acids or other organic acids that increase food acidity and inhibit broad categories of microorganisms. One trend is the development of fermentation-derived preservatives like "Upgrade" (developed by Stauffer Chemical and now produced in the United States by ICI's Quest unit) with the same active ingredient (propionic acid) found in chemically derived calcium propionate. Other fermentation-derived preservatives, like Delvocid (pimaricin), produced from Streptomyces natalensis by the Dutch company Gist-brocades, or nisin, produced from Streptococcus lactis by the Australian company, Burns Philp, have unique characteristics or applications. Chemicals like nisin are of particular interest because they can be produced by "friendly" lactic acid bacteria and are effective against especially challenging pathogens like Listeria.

Sugars from starches

Starch processing involves the conversion of corn or another grain into dextrose and other syrups by a hydrolysis reaction. This was formerly done using acid at high temperature and pressure, but dextrose yields were limited to about 80%, the process was hazardous and expensive and produced large quantities of salt as a by-product. The initial change to enzymatic hydrolysis in the 1960s increased dextrose yields and eliminated the drawbacks of the acid process. In the 1970s, development of immobilized glucose isomerase enzymes enabled the production of high fructose corn syrup. In the 1980s, thermostable alpha-amylases helped increase yields, and in the 1990s, recombinant thermostable amylases have helped reduce costs.


		Created: 2005-06-07 Updated: 2005-10-11	Top of Page	Important Notices