Wacker introduces new flagship brand name Fermopure for all its amino acid ingredients

27 Mar 2019 --- Wacker has revived its Fermopure brand name to include all of the amino acids that the group produces. L-cystine – the starting material for L-cysteine – is manufactured by fermentation at the company’s new site in León, Spain. The production site has been certified to both FSSC 22000 and ISO 9001 standards and thus satisfies all quality requirements, says Wacker. Due to the entirely plant-based and inorganic raw materials, Wacker’s cystine and cysteine are reportedly vegan and ideal for use in food and pharmaceutical products.

“With Fermopure, we offer safe ultrapure cystine and cysteine products made from purely plant-based raw materials,” says Dr. Stefan Neumann, Head of Bioprocessing at Wacker.

Since September 2018, cystine production has been up and running at the modernized and technologically upgraded site in León. Wacker is the first company to manufacture cystine by fermentation – thanks to a patented biotech process, says Dr. Neumann. The advantage in this is that the raw materials are entirely plant-based and inorganic so that any potential contamination due to animal or human pathogens can be eliminated entirely. 

“Our production process yields products that are vegan, kosher and halal. This makes them ideal for numerous applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries,” explains Neumann. Wacker received the 2008 Environmental Award from the Federation of German Industries (BDI) for this process.

Thanks to their functional properties and purity levels, Wacker’s Fermopure products have a broad application range in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Thanks to their functional properties and purity levels, Wacker’s Fermopure products have a broad application range in the food and pharmaceutical industries. They find use in the manufacture of flavorings, as additives in baked good and as an essential component of baby and toddler food. 

“Fermopure is the perfect name to describe our products (L-cysteine and L-cystine), which are produced by fermentation and are of the highest quality. The ending ‘pure’ represents the high safety standards and the total absence of pathogens and animal ingredients,” Heiko Zipp, Director of Business Team Nutrition at Wacker Biosolutions tells FoodIngredientsFirst. “We wanted to find a unique name that pays respect to our high quality and the natural origin of our products. We think that with Fermopure we found an ideal solution.”

The creation of the new brand is connected to the relocation of our cystine production to our fermentation site in Spain, Zipp explains. “With this transfer, we have extended our manufacturing control and gained new standards (such as FSSC 22000) that underline our superior quality profile. With this powerful brand, we can address the fast-growing demand for free from food and plant-based alternatives.”

The company’s Fermopure products are ideal building blocks for creating savory flavors, according to Zipp. “Our vegan raw materials are especially valuable for the ever-expanding meat alternatives market. Generally, the application field is vast. Our plant-based L-cystine and L-cysteine ingredients are also perfect for various bakery products, infant formula and dietary supplements. Since L-cysteine is not only an antioxidant and precursor to the cell protector glutathione but also an essential component of keratin, the main protein in hair, skin and nails, it is also an ideal ingredient in the market of beauty supplements.”

“We do hope to extend our product range of fermentation-based amino acids in the future,” Zipp adds.

Cystine and cysteine are also trendy ingredients in nutritional supplements for strengthening the skin, hair and nails. The pharmaceutical sector uses cysteine in expectorants or to produce insulin, for example. “In León, we are well-equipped to satisfy our customers’ growing demand for cysteine in the long-term and to advance other bioengineered products,” explains Neumann.

This fermentative production requires the aid of microorganisms and glucose from plant starch. These microorganisms are by nature able to synthesize cysteine. In the fermentation tank, they produce the amino acid in a continuous stream of glucose and inorganic trace elements. The microorganisms release cysteine directly into the surrounding culture medium in the fermenter, where spontaneous oxidation takes place – two molecules come together to form the dimer cystine. This product can subsequently be reduced again to the monomeric cysteine by electrolysis. The latter is one of the 20 natural amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.

By Elizabeth Green