TNO honoured for release-on-demand technology

Each year Scientific American honours 50 individuals, teams, companies and other organisations whose accomplishments in research, business or policy-making demonstrate outstanding technological leadership.

14/01/08 TNO (the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) has been honoured by Scientific American for the development of the ‘BioSwitch’, an innovative release-on-demand delivery technology. The secret of the success behind TNO’s BioSwitch is the release of active components at exactly the right place and right time both for food and non-food applications.

Each year Scientific American honours 50 individuals, teams, companies and other organisations whose accomplishments in research, business or policy-making demonstrate outstanding technological leadership. Hans Boumans and his research team were proud to have been awarded a place on this prestigious global list of 2007 published this month.

The award acknowledges TNO’s choice to become a leading innovator in delivery technologies. Recognising the trend and increasing demand for novel formulations of active components, TNO decided to invest in targeted delivery and to build a technology platform of new micro-encapsulation, formulation and coating methods for different applications. In the food industry especially, release-on-demand systems will be instrumental in increasing the efficacy of bioactives, improving the stability or shelf life and masking the taste impact of ingredients. The BioSwitch is an excellent example of the novel solutions TNO is able to develop for its clients.

Initially, the BioSwitch concept was developed as a tool in active packaging. Its mechanism has been compared with the Trojan horse. In this application, small particles consisting of a matrix of modified polysaccharides – a biopolymer cage - contain an anti-microbial component. These BioSwitch particles are coated onto the surface of the food package. In the case of microbial contamination, the bacteria will start to secrete enzymes that break down the polysaccharides matrix. “Just as the soldiers coming out of the Trojan horse, degradation of the particles releases the antimicrobial compound inside that kills the bacteria,” Ted Slaghek, senior technology leader, explains, “The same principle can be applied in paints and other coatings, but more importantly, this is an exciting new delivery technology that enables a whole new range of novel release–on-demand formulations of active components in different markets.”