Biotech innovator speeds up precision fermentation for higher product yields

20 May 2024 --- Chicago-based biotech company Hydrosome Labs has developed a new technology that can double precision fermentation yields and decrease production time by up to 25%. The method is a natural and chemical-free process that improves the power of water through the “emerging science of ultrafine bubbles” and can be used in foods, ingredients and industrial enzymes. 

The technology — Hydrosome H2O — delivers active ingredients to cells more efficiently and thoroughly. It helps plants grow faster and healthier with less fertilizer and provides faster, longer-lasting and enhanced hydration in performance drinks.

The novel technology can help solve a global industry bottleneck in fermentation capacity and equipment and enables manufacturers to achieve higher product yields in the same size or previously unsuitable tanks.

Paul Gadbut, CEO of Hydrosome Labs says the innovation is “a win for manufacturers, consumers and investors alike.”

He also highlights its sustainability benefits, including allowing manufacturers to do “more with less,” use fewer chemicals and nutrients, reduce environmental impact and shorten supply chains.

“The bottom-line benefits to the industry include faster fermentations, higher yields, lower energy and nutrient inputs, lower labor costs, higher efficiencies, no added chemicals and no regulatory impact,” notes the company.

Enhancing existing processes
The US-based Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign utilizes Hydrosome’s technology in its pilot-scale reactors. 

Brian Jacobson, associate director of Strategic Operations at the IBRL, says the process has shown “immediate benefit to microbial growth” in its facility. 

Hydrosome's technology enhances the microbial growth in pilot scale reactors.“While there have been significant advances in synthetic biology resulting in a tremendous number of new products capable of being made through fermentation, we have seen very little innovation in the fermentation process or equipment to assist in scaling these discoveries.”

He believes the technique can “positively impact the economics of new products” in a wide range of industries. It can also be applied to existing processes or “retrofit last-generation fermentation equipment” currently unsuitable for these new products.

Precision fermentation gains ground
Precision fermentation encompasses a portion of a nearly US$200 billion biomanufacturing industry that includes contract manufacturers and vertically integrated global companies. 

The process allows F&B manufacturers to produce high-quality nutrition without the animals and cuts greenhouse gas emissions and land and water use, 21st.Bio’s CEO told Food Ingredients First last month. He said the method offers the “best of both worlds: nutritious proteins produced sustainably and at an industrial scale.”

ScaleUp Bio also backed the process recently by partnering with start-ups Allozymes and Algrow Biosciences to foster innovation in fermentation. Its pilot-scale manufacturing facility in Singapore offers up to 10,000 liters of fermentation capacity and is among the few globally that support pilot-stage manufacturing and quality control.

Meanwhile, precision fermentation has caught the attention of Checkerspot, which uses microalgae fermentation to develop fat substitutes for F&B and Ironic Biotech, which formulates iron-containing plant-derived proteins using the technique for food or food supplements.

By Insha Naureen