Lab-to-pilot development platform for plant and microbial food ingredients & hybrid food products in Singapore

Objectives & Approach

• Novel food ingredients development from alternative protein sources with tailored functionalities for various food applications
• Knowledge-based process development for scale-up of a selection of high-quality food ingredients for novel food prototype production and successful market implementation

Food and ingredient quality assessment and optimization

Aims: Set up a knowledge database for food ingredient properties (protein quality, etc.)

• Established, validated, and optimized method for the measurement of organic/amino acids, protein nutrition amino acid score, protein digestibility corrected amino score (PDCAAS), proximate analysis: protein content, monosaccharides, alcohol,  FAME, mycotoxin, aroma/off aroma, tastant, and mineral

Database

Development of a miniaturized analytical platform for ingredient functionality characterization

Aims: To establish a platform for new raw material identification as potential sources of high-quality and high-yield protein ingredients

Key outcomes:

Strain engineering, bioprocess development for microbial proteins and food ingredients

Aims:

• Engineer A. oryzae and E. coli to produce functional sweet proteins (Brazzein), growth factors (bovine FGF2, IGF1)
• Develop bioprocess and downstream process for the engineered strains up to 200 L scale

Key outcomes:

A. oryzae

• Isolated and genome-sequenced 5 A. oryzae strains  Expressed target proteins (Brazzein and bovine IGF1) using hlyA promoter in the A. oryzae and achieved with a titer of ~10 mg/L
• Engineered genetic modifications to boost protein expression by 
  • Reducing extracellular protease activity
  • Enhancing transcription by overexpression of transcriptional activators
  • Multi-copy gene integration

E. coli

• Cloned and expressed bovine FGF2 cell growth factor in E. coli
• Bioprocess and downstream process established with titres of 1 g/L

Precision fermentation:

• Scale-up and downstream process for terpene molecule (i.e., nerolidol) produced by E. coli

Biomass fermentation: 

Process development for plant protein ingredients from lab to pilot scale

Aims: Develop protein extraction and modification methods from Asian crops and novel protein sources to obtain functional ingredients for future foods

Key outcomes:

• Developed process for protein extraction (500 g and 6 kg flour throughput)
• In-house extracts from soy, mung bean, pea, and rice flour retain AA profile and display higher solubility, purity, oil-holding capacity, and gelling than commercial benchmarks
• Improved protein emulsification and foaming properties via post-extraction fermentation with selected strains
• New functional proteins from adzuki bean, melon seed, pumpkin seed, white button mushroom, Yarrowia biomass, and tempeh to replace animal proteins in a broad range of food products

Development of protein texturization from lab to pilot scale

Aims:

• Develop and scale up the extrusion process of conventional and new food ingredients from alternative protein sources
• Demonstrate potential of new texturized ingredients in food prototypes

Established extrusion capabilities in lab & pilot scale

Food prototypes made from texturized proteins

Optimised extrusion hardware