Ambrosia Bio and Ginkgo Enzyme Services develop a scalable enzymatic process for allulose

30 Jun 2023 --- Ambrosia Bio, which specializes in novel bioprocesses for sugar replacement, is developing an expression strain for the scalable production of its proprietary enzymes that are used for the conversion of feedstock into the sweetener allulose. 

Mass production of allulose requires enzymatic conversion of common carbohydrates, but many of the natural enzymes available on the market today lack stability and effectiveness, notes the Israeli food-tech company.

Over the past three years of “stealth mode” development, Ambrosia Bio has created a bioprocess using proprietary enzymes to affordably and scalably convert lower-margin feedstocks – such as sugar and starch – into rare sugars and specialized ingredients, such as allulose.

Ambrosia Bio has now partnered with Ginkgo Bioworks, which will allow it to leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services, a service platform tailored for enzyme R&D. It comprises Ginkgo’s proprietary gene database encompassing more than two billion genes and eight million natural product gene clusters, including its proprietary chassis organisms.

“Ambrosia Bio's high-performance enzymes and its conjugated allulose production process have the potential to significantly reduce the cost associated with the mass production of allulose, paving the way to reduced-sugar products without compromising taste or other key sensory traits,” remarks Mervyn de Souza, senior director of business development at Ginkgo Bioworks.

Ambrosia Bio says it aims to replace the “costly and cumbersome” allulose production processes currently used by ingredient manufacturers worldwide, helping to “democratize” the global use of allulose.

Innova Market Insights finds that the use of reduced sugar claims in F&B launches is increasing globally, featuring 13% year-over-year growth when comparing 2020-2021 with 2021-2022 launches.Commercializing a scarce sweetener
While a sizable growth in the sweeteners category is still being led by staples like stevia, in countries where they’re approved, allulose is showing signs of growing adoption alongside other natural alternatives like monk fruit that appeal to consumers’ label awareness.

Unlike other currently available sweeteners, allulose has a low caloric value – typically under 10% compared to equivalent amounts of sucrose – giving it the ability to minimally impact blood glucose and insulin levels while maintaining sugar’s sensory and culinary properties.

Allulose is an FDA-approved rare sugar that is found in figs, raisins, wheat, maple syrup and molasses but occurs naturally only in small amounts.

Over the last few years, the ingredient’s prevalence on the market has been driven by moves from key industry suppliers to scale up its production. Ingredient solution provider Ingredion, for instance, inaugurated its first allulose production plant in San Juan del Río, Mexico, in 2019, catering to the Americas and Asia region.

However, allulose is currently produced predominantly through the enzymatic isomerization of fructose. Overall, this method suffers because of higher feedstock cost, the costly separation of allulose from fructose and relatively low product yields.

Optimizing allulose production
Ambrosia Bio claims that its proprietary approach maintains its process stability and fidelity “across long periods of time and temperature fluctuations, proving highly effective relative to current benchmarks.”

To further optimize its process, Ambrosia Bio will leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services, an end-to-end service powered by ultra-high throughput screening and machine learning-guided protein design, to aid its goal of producing an optimized version of its proprietary enzyme in a productive expression strain.

In particular, Ambrosia Bio seeks to benefit from access to Ginkgo's extensive strain engineering Codebase, as well as Ginkgo’s Foundry capabilities in enzyme expression and analytical chemistry, to develop a more scalable and affordable commercial allulose solution.

“With end-to-end capabilities, Ginkgo is a one-stop shop that can enable Ambrosia Bio to expand global allulose availability,” comments Ziv Zwighaft, founder and CEO at Ambrosia Bio.

Unlike other currently available sweeteners, allulose has a low caloric value.“We aim to provide affordable options for key sugar production players, as well as leading global brands in the food and beverage space, many of whom are looking for a sugar replacement that does not compromise the superb consumption experience offered by their products.”

Cleaning up labels
Natural sweeteners that deliver on performance expectations while maintaining a natural profile are especially attractive as front-of-pack labeling schemes like the Nutri-Score become more widespread worldwide.

According to Innova Market Insights, the use of reduced sugar claims in F&B launches is increasing globally, featuring 13% year-over-year growth when comparing 2020 Q4 – 2021 Q3 with 2021 Q4 – 2022 Q3 launches.

In the 2021 Q4 – 2022 Q3 period, the top category of global product launches tracked with reduced sugar claims was Soft Drinks (19%). In 2021 Q4 – 2022 Q3, Granulated Sugar (65%) was the leading ingredient among the reduced sugar claims tracked.

In the UK, foods that are too high in fat, salt or sugar are subject to marketing restrictions and prohibited from occupying space near the checkout counter. For EU consumers, soft drinks manufacturers have already slashed sugar content by 7.6% between 2019 and 2022.

Industry’s toolkit of solutions has been steadily expanding, with Kerry recently launching its next-generation Tastesense Advanced range of solutions, aimed at transforming the low and zero-sugar product market with an “ability to deliver unparalleled sweetness and full-bodied mouthfeel” as well as sustainability benefits.

Last month, Incredo (formerly known as DouxMatok) completed a US$30 million Series C funding round for its solution that achieves sugar reduction of 30% to 50% using only sugar. The Israeli-based food-tech specialist manipulates the crystallization of sugar, making it more efficient as it reaches sweet taste receptors more effectively while it dissolves.

In other latest advancements, Beneo launched a new sweetening syrup, Beneo-scL85, which enriches foods with dietary fiber. Meanwhile, Sweegen announced its Bestevia Rebaudioside M (Reb M) has been fully authorized for use in the UK, making the company the first to receive authorization for any steviol glycosides produced using alternative technologies in the country.

By Benjamin Ferrer