Starch Pros

May 11^th 2023

AGRANA expands production capacity for technical starches and invests € 23 million at Gmünd site.

This year, the fruit, starch and sugar group AGRANA is starting with the construction of an additional drum drying plant at the site of its potato starch mill in Gmünd (Waldviertel
District of Lower Austria). With an investment volume of € 23 million, AGRANA aims to boost the production of technical special starches for the construction and adhesive sectors. The
plan is to complete the new plant in July 2025 and, as a result, increase the production capacity of technical starches by a third.
“Due to legal requirements, technical sectors are increasingly relying on organic materials and, therefore, selecting starches as a sustainable alternative to oil-based products. The
expansion of our facility is in response to this rising demand and safeguards the competitiveness of the Gmünd site,” stresses Norbert Harringer, CTO of AGRANA
Beteiligungs-AG. In Europe, AGRANA is the market leader in both technical and organic starches.

At Austria’s only potato starch mill in Gmünd, with a workforce of around 420 AGRANA manufactures both starches for the food sector as well as starches for technical applications, such as in the construction, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries. The facility in Gmünd also processes organic potatoes to make organic starches, organic sweeteners and organic long-life potato products, such as purées, potato dough mixes and infant formula. In total, AGRANA manufactures over 300 different starch products at its mill in Gmünd.

AGRANA Starch, with a total of five mills, of which three are located in Austria, in Aschach/Donau, Gmünd and Pischelsdorf, and a further two in Szabadegyhaza (Hungary) and Tandarei (Romania), AGRANA has established itself as a specialist for customised starch applications.

In the construction chemicals sector, starches from AGRANA provide for the right consistency not only with starch ether for gypsum and slaked lime but also in cement and slaked cement construction materials. Due to their excellent adhesive properties, AGRANA starches are used in the adhesives industry as an alternative to synthetic adhesives and are referred to as green glues.

Source: https://www.agrana.com/en/pr/all-press-releases/news-detail/agrana-erweitert-produktionskapazitaeten-fuer-technische-staerken-und-investiert-am-standort-gmuend-23-mio-euro

March 23^rd 2023

Tapioca starch sweetener gets GRAS status from the FDA.

Resistant dextrin derived from tapioca starch — which is a sweetener called FiberSmart made by Anderson Advanced Ingredients — received generally recognized as safe status from the FDA. This means the ingredient can be more easily incorporated into food products.

FiberSmart is made through a process involving roasting and drying tapioca starch to create the sweetener. It is more than 90% dietary fiber and is 20% as sweet as sugar. The ingredient also is low glycemic and can be used in a wide variety of applications, including baked goods, beverages, cereals and bars, candies and frozen desserts.

As consumers are being more cautious about what they eat, a new better-for-you natural sweetener creates another choice for manufacturers.

FiberSmart is the latest new sweetener to gain approval from the FDA. Its versatility and nutritional benefits make it stand out as companies create food and drink that both taste good and benefit the health of the consumer.

The ingredient has been available since 2015, and is recognized as a dietary fiber. Anderson Advanced Ingredients says that it is water soluble and has a smooth mouthfeel, unlike some fibers that feel gritty.

FiberSmart also has promise as a substitute for maltodextrin, a common ingredient for thickening, texturizing and preservation that is in many CPG items. Maltodextrin has a high glycemic index, while FiberSmart does not.

“We have received so much positive feedback about FiberSMART not only for its versatility and tolerability, but also because its tight tolerances around water activity improve on product consistency and production run times,” John Jarmul, vice president of marketing at Anderson Advanced Ingredients, said in a statement. “It’s a great product for lowering sugar content and increasing fiber without sacrificing taste or texture.”

Because it is a fiber, Anderson Advanced Ingredients wanted to ensure the ingredient would not cause any digestive issues for consumers. A study by Australia’s Murdoch University Centre for Molecular Medicine found even a double dose of the recommended amount of the ingredient was well tolerated by testers.

Ingredients such as FiberSmart are becoming more sought after by manufacturers seeking to make products that are healthy, clean label and low in sugar. Because FiberSmart is not a sugar, it does not appear on Nutrition Facts labels as one.

With GRAS status, FiberSmart could be on its way to wider adoption in a variety of food items. But like most alternative sweeteners, it’s not likely to be used on its own.

While there is a vast array of sweeteners derived from plants, fruits, starches and proteins, most do not behave exactly like sugar. FiberSmart has just a fifth of the sweetening power as the same amount of sugar, and as a fiber does not have many of its functional properties.

This kind of ingredient can cut back on the amount of sugar that is needed for a product, or it can be used with other more intensely sweet alternatives.

Source: https://www.fooddive.com/news/fibersmart-sweetener-gras-tapioca-starch/645750/

March 16th 2023

Potato starch and Martian soil make ‘cosmic concrete’ for extra-terrestrial structures – just add astronaut tears.

Simulated Martian soil, potato starch and salt have been combined into a new concrete-like material that could one day be used to build structures on Mars.

The tough new material, known as StarCrete, was developed by a team of researchers at the University of Manchester.

Using terrestrial materials to build infrastructure in space would be “prohibitively expensive and difficult to achieve” with current methods, the researchers said. Instead, future space construction will need to rely on simple materials that are easily available to astronauts.

StarCrete offers a possible solution, the researchers claimed. The material is reportedly twice as strong as ordinary concrete, and could be perfectly suited for construction work in extra-terrestrial environments.

The team used ordinary potato starch as a binder, mixed with simulated Mars dust to create StarCrete. Testing showed that the material has a compressive strength of 72 Megapascals (MPa), over twice as strong as the 32 MPa of ordinary concrete. StarCrete made from Moon dust was even stronger, at over 91 MPa.

This work improved on a previous project from the same team, which theorised that astronaut blood and urine could be used as a binding agent. While the resulting material had a compressive strength of around 40 MPa, the process had the drawback of requiring blood on a regular basis. When operating in an environment as hostile as space, this option was seen as less feasible than using potato starch.

“Since we will be producing starch as food for astronauts, it made sense to look at that as a binding agent rather than human blood,” said lead researcher Dr Aled Roberts, research fellow at the Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub.

“Also, current building technologies still need many years of development and require considerable energy and additional heavy processing equipment, which all adds cost and complexity to a mission. StarCrete doesn’t need any of this and so it simplifies the mission and makes it cheaper and more feasible.

“And anyway, astronauts probably don’t want to be living in houses made from scabs and urine!”

Either way, the future astronauts might have to make some sacrifices to build their extra-terrestrial homes – the researchers discovered that magnesium chloride, a common salt found in tears, “significantly improved” the material’s strength. Thankfully, it should also be obtainable from the Martian surface.

The researchers calculated that a 25kg sack of dehydrated potatoes contains enough starch to produce almost half a tonne of StarCrete, equivalent to 213 bricks – a three-bedroom house takes roughly 7,500 bricks to build.

Dr Roberts and his team recently launched a start-up company, DeakinBio, which is exploring ways to improve StarCrete so it can also be used in a terrestrial setting.

If used on Earth, StarCrete could offer a greener alternative to traditional concrete, the researchers claimed. Cement and concrete account for about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, as the process by which they are made requires very high firing temperatures. StarCrete can be made in an ordinary oven or microwave at normal home baking temperatures, reducing the amount of energy required.

Source https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/eng-2022-0390/html

March 06^th 2023

UA researchers patent water-soluble plastic material based on potato starch.

It does not pollute the seas and is suitable for use as packaging.

The University of Alicante Waste, Energy, Environment and Nanotechnology (REMAN) research group (in Spain) has developed a process for obtaining a water-soluble plastic material based on potato starch, which will soon be introduced on the market through the UA technology-Based Company Solublion, linked to the Alicante Science Park. According to professor of Chemical Engineering Ignacio Martín Gullón, this new material is also compostable and biodegradable, being suitable for use as a flexible film, preferably in bags and packaging, and has great advantages over existing ones.

The development of this new material arose from a thesis on thermoplastic starch for the development of environmentally sustainable materials by now president and CEO of Solublion Daniel Domene López. The thesis’ title reveals the intention that this new material will make a relevant contribution to mitigating the impact caused by the poor management of conventional plastic waste as it does not generate an environmental problem at the end of its useful life in the event that, due to poor waste management, it ends up in natural ecosystems. Domene López explained that the consumption of worldwide plastic materials before the pandemic was around 370 million tonnes, a figure that they estimate could exceed 400 million in the coming years due to the increase in packaging and single-use materials. Of these, before the pandemic, only two million were biodegradable plastics, and by the end of the decade there will be an estimation of eight million tonnes of biodegradable plastics in demand by consumers.

The plastic developed by the REMAN group is highly stable and has a low migration rate. As explained by Ignacio Martín, this group’s solutions are intended for use in the packaging and single-use plastics industry as a direct replacement for conventional alternatives. In addition, their patented technology allows them to offer a wide range of mechanical performance, enabling them to tailor our products to the needs of their customers.

The formulations developed by the research group require the starch to be gelatinised and plasticised in the presence of plasticisers, usually water and another plasticiser with a higher boiling point. Plasticised starch, surrounded by plasticiser molecules, has a high tendency to retrograde, i.e. it partially recovers its original ordered structure, which leads to a decrease in its properties. However, with the technology developed by the group, this migration is largely avoided, extending the useful life of these materials without detriment to their mechanical properties, biodegradability, compostability and water solubility.

Source: https://web.ua.es/en/actualidad-universitaria/2023/march2023/6-12/ua-researchers-patent-water-soluble-plastic-material-based-on-potato-starch.html

March 06^th 2023

This starchy bioplastic could make soggy paper straws a thing of the past.

These new bioplastic straws made using potato starch and lignin are strong in water but still biodegrade.

In the fight against pollution, several regions in the U.S. have banned the use of plastic straws. Alternative materials exist, but most options are either too expensive to scale up, go limp in drinks or taste bad. But now, a team reporting in ACS Omega has developed a new type of bioplastic film from all-natural, degradable materials that can be rolled into a straw that doesn’t get soggy and is stronger than plastic.

As efforts to reduce plastic waste take hold, many researchers and companies have turned to plastic alternatives to fabricate straws that comply with new laws and regulations. But so far, most options either end up breaking down in a drink, like paper straws, or require extra steps and energy to manufacture, like metal or sugarcane straws.

But some biopolymers, such as starch and lignin, are readily available as byproducts of other industrial processes and could serve as cheap bioplastic ingredients. Lignin’s natural strength could help overcome starch’s brittleness, especially when combined with a bio-based crosslinker, such as citric acid. So, Dickens Agumba, Duc Hoa Pham and Jaehwan Kim wanted to see if these materials could be combined into a plastic film that was tough, stable in water, yet would still break down when no longer needed.

To create the straws, the researchers blended lignin with either potato starch or polyvinyl alcohol—a more traditional bioplastic material—then added citric acid. They spread the slurry into a thin layer, rolled it into a cylinder and cured it at over 350 F. The bioplastic naturally self-adhered at the seam, but heat treatment set it and made it even stronger. In tests, the cylinders were stronger than those made of polypropylene plastic, yet still flexible.

After two months outside, the plastic straws remained unchanged, while the team’s straws degraded significantly. The bioplastic film also offered UV protection, which could be useful for other applications, such as a coating for greenhouse windows. The researchers say that this material could not only reduce the amount of plastic waste in the environment, but also be used to create other, more sustainable bioplastic products from otherwise wasted materials.

Source: https://scienceblog.com/536824/this-starchy-bioplastic-could-make-soggy-paper-straws-a-thing-of-the-past/

February 20^th 2023

Tate & Lyle’s facility in the Netherlands helps deliver progress on sustainability.

Tate & Lyle PLC (Tate & Lyle), a world leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and beverages, is working to deliver on its environmental commitments, as demonstrated by strong progress at its facility in Koog aan de Zaan (Koog) in the Netherlands on water use, waste management and carbon emissions reduction.

More sustainably made ingredients.

Engineers at Koog have adapted the production process for Tate & Lyle’s CLARIA® Clean Label Functional Starches, the hero brand in its texturants portfolio, to lower the product line’s carbon footprint and water use by 34% and 35% respectively1. CLARIA® is a corn-based starch used in products such as beverages, soups, sauces, and dressings, providing texture, viscosity, and gelling benefits, amongst others. The production efficiencies, which do not affect the ingredient’s functionality, will be implemented globally for all Tate & Lyle’s CLARIA® production, with the more sustainably made product line available to food and beverage customers in limited supply from early next year. From early 2025, all CLARIA® will be made using the more sustainable method developed at Koog under the new CLARIA® G brand, with trial samples soon available.

This production enhancement at Koog, which also purchases 100% renewable electricity, supports Tate & Lyle’s efforts to deliver on its science-based target to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions2 by 30% by 2030, and to achieve net zero by 2050. This innovation also brings Tate & Lyle one step closer to achieving its target of reducing water use by 15% by 2030.

Beneficially using all waste.

The team at Koog has also recently hit a major waste management milestone by finding a beneficial use for 99.9% of site waste, including providing waste water sludge, organic matter that comes from the corn wet milling process, as nutrients for the animals and land of local farms. This work contributes to Tate & Lyle’s target to beneficially use 100% of the waste it generates globally by 2030.

Paul Clarijs, Plant Manager at Koog aan de Zaan, Tate & Lyle, said: “Finding innovative ways to care for our planet is something our workforce cares deeply about. We operate a continuous improvement mindset and are pleased to have developed new ways of working at Koog that will inspire each Tate & Lyle site on their sustainability journey and provide benefits to our wider network.”

Coralie Falize, Innovation Lead for Texturants at Tate & Lyle, said: “By continuing to expand our texturant portfolio, including diversifying our raw materials, we are building our knowledge of production enhancement that help us and our customers to meet ambitious environmental commitments. Our next generation CLARIA® G, has the same functionality as the existing product line that our customers know and love but with stronger sustainability credentials.”

Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability at Tate & Lyle, added: “This new, more sustainable process for CLARIA® production will help us increase capacity over time and provide customers with the more sustainable products they are looking for as we partner to tackle the biggest challenge facing society, the climate crisis.”

Source: https://www.tateandlyle.com/news/tate-lyles-facility-netherlands-helps-deliver-progress-sustainability

January 27^th 2023

Scientists have produced a system that produces protein from starch using AI.

Scientists have created an AI system, called ProGen, that generates artificial enzymes from scratch. In laboratory tests, some of these enzymes worked as well as those found in nature, even when their artificially generated amino acid sequences diverged significantly from any known natural protein.

The experiment demonstrates that natural language processing, although it was developed to read and write language text, can learn at least some of the underlying principles of biology. Salesforce Research developed the AI program, called ProGen, which uses next-token prediction to assemble amino acid sequences into artificial proteins.

Scientists said the new technology could become more powerful than directed evolution, the Nobel-prize-winning protein design technology, and it will energize the 50-year-old field of protein engineering by speeding the development of new proteins that can be used for almost anything from therapeutics to degrading plastic.

“The artificial designs perform much better than designs that were inspired by the evolutionary process,” said James Fraser, Ph.D., professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at the UCSF School of Pharmacy, and an author of the work, which was published on Jan. 26, in Nature Biotechnology. A previous version of the paper has been available on the preprint server BiorXiv since July 2021, where it garnered several dozen citations before being published in a peer-reviewed journal.

ProGen works in a similar way to AIs that can generate text. ProGen learned how to generate new proteins by learning the grammar of how amino acids combine to form 280 million existing proteins. Instead of the researchers choosing a topic for the AI to write about, they could specify a group of similar proteins for it to focus on. In this case, they chose a group of proteins with antimicrobial activity.

The researchers programmed checks into the AI’s process so it wouldn’t produce the amino acids, but they also tested a sample of the AI-proposed molecules in real cells. Of the 100 molecules they physically created, 66 participated in chemical reactions similar to those of natural proteins that destroy bacteria in egg whites and saliva. This suggested that these new proteins could also kill bacteria.

Scientists said the new technology could become more powerful than directed evolution, a Nobel-prize-winning protein design technology, and will energize the 50-year-old field of protein engineering by speeding the development of new proteins that can be used for almost anything from therapeutics to degrading plastic.

“The language model is learning aspects of evolution, but it’s different than the normal evolutionary process,” Fraser said. “We now have the ability to tune the generation of these properties for specific effects. For example, an enzyme that’s incredibly thermostable or likes acidic environments or won’t interact with other proteins.”

To create the model, scientists simply fed the amino acid sequences of 280 million different proteins of all kinds into the machine learning model and let it digest the information for a couple of weeks. Then, they fine-tuned the model by priming it with 56,000 sequences from five lysozyme families, along with some contextual information about these proteins.

“It was sort of an ‘it looks like a duck, it quacks like a duck’ situation and X-rays confirmed it also walked like a duck,” says Fraser. He was surprised to have found a well-functioning protein in the first relatively small fraction of all the ProGen-generated proteins that they tested.

A similar process could be used to create new test molecules for drug development, though they will still have to be tested in labs, which is time-consuming, says Madani.

“The capability to generate functional proteins from scratch out-of-the-box demonstrates we are entering into a new era of protein design,” said Ali Madani, Ph.D., founder of Profluent Bio, a former research scientist at Salesforce Research, and the paper’s first author. “This is a versatile new tool available to protein engineers, and we’re looking forward to seeing the therapeutic applications.”

Source: https://www.techjuice.pk/scientists-have-produced-a-system-that-produces-protein-from-starch-using-ai/

January 16^th 2023

Chinese researchers find new way to synthesize starch, proteins from corn stalk.

Chinese researchers recently developed a method of high efficiency for synthesizing artificial starch and microbial proteins from corn stalk. This method can cut the production cost of artificial starch and provide a new way to produce food.

Growing populations and climate change pose great challenges to food security. The efficient conversion of agricultural waste into artificial food is an important way to alleviate a food crisis and realize sustainable agricultural development.

The researchers from the Biotechnology Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other China-based institutions, used a multi-enzyme molecular system and baker’s yeast to convert cellulose in corn stalks to artificial starch, and to produce microbial protein by fermentation under aerobic conditions.

The whole production process requires only a small investment in equipment, does not require coenzyme or energy input and does not lead to sugar loss, offering the possibility of producing artificial starch and microbial proteins at low cost, according to the study.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095927323000221

January 10^th 2023

Corn prices to remain elevated, says Beroe.

Global corn production has risen by approximately 11 percent over five years as a response to the rise in corn demand by roughly 14 percent during the same period. The end-user industries, including corn starch and animal feed, are the main forces behind supply and demand, impacting price trends.

The key factors driving the growth also include demand from the end-use segments, such as the citric acid market and feed industry in China, Canada switching to green fuels, and increased domestic utilizations in most countries, amid the pandemic. Unfavorable weather conditions in key growing destinations and the loss of Ukrainian grain exports also impacted the global corn market this year.

Since end-use categories are largely concentrated in the U.S. and China, these two nations are the top consumers. Concerning the corn processing end-use segments, citric acid is in high demand post-Coronavirus, while the corn starch market could rise by a CAGR of 4.8 percent in the coming years. This is causing corn demand in the US and China to grow. Top corn processors such as Cargill, ADM, and Ingredion occupy about 70-80 percent of the market share.

LATAM nations have always competed with the US for exports. However, this year dry weather conditions in Brazil, coupled with delayed plantings, are expected to impact second crop quality heavily.

Argentina mainly exports to countries in Asia and the Middle East, with Algeria, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Egypt being the top export destinations. Argentina has sold about 20 MMT of corn in the 2021/22 marketing year. About 1.2 MMT of corn was exported last week of March. Weekly export volumes of corn have surged significantly even amid war conditions.

Corn prices have remained firm and gained significantly owing to worries about the export of shipments via the Black Sea amid strong demands. Ukraine is struggling to export grains via rail as the volumes for export which were earlier shipped through the Odesa terminal, were very high and are not replaceable via rail.

Global supplies remain tight, with Ukraine struggling to export corn, the EU facing a structural deficit, slower pace of the US planting, along with Brazilian crops, threatened by dry weather. CBOT corn prices continue to gain support from these factors amid an acute shortage of fertilizers and rallying freight costs.

The European nations are constantly trying to get Ukrainian grain stocks out of the country through rails. Shipments are currently directed to Austria and Germany. Global corn prices are expected to remain elevated along the short-medium term due to ongoing supply chain disruptions and increasing production costs.

Reduction in corn shipments from Ukraine has caused European farmers to opt for genetically modified animal feed from South America and US. Non-GMO corn from Ukraine constituted half of EU imports. However, 92 percent of US corn imports are GM. Incidentally, EU companies do not have to label meat or animal products fed with GM grains.

China has bought only 126,727 MT of corn from Ukraine, compared to 1.26 MMT in 2021. Corn shipments from all origins to China between January to May fell by 2.9 percent, according to customs data, while only in May did shipment volumes fall by 34.1 percent. The Chinese feed industry demand for corn remains under pressure leading to lowered livestock margins.

Besides the supply crunch and surging corn production costs, logistics is also adding to the corn prices. Fertilizer availability remains grim, which could impact corn quality in top-production countries. The total corn production cost for the US was $634/acre. The total operating and allocated overhead costs comprise 48.7 percent and 51.3 percent of the total cost, respectively.

Corn is planted during April and May, while harvest usually begins around September. The planting and harvesting of corn influence the price trend cycles in the US. Generally, the prices trend downward between September and December due to harvest. The downward trend continues from January to March as harvest supply enters the market. Prices could then trend upward or downward between April and August, depending on demand and farmer preferences, such as rotation with soy. Costs could become more favorable for procurement as major production countries begin harvest. Supplies from US and Brazil could ease prices in the medium term.

India is planning to launch 20% ethanol mixed gasoline in 2023 to cut down alternate fuel import requirements. Oil prices are hard hit this year, due to which the country is trying to expedite efforts to increase domestic stocks. The government also plans to approve the increased use of feedstock such as corn, sugar, molasses, and damaged grains for biofuel production.

Innovation plays a vital role in the corn industry in developing new varieties for pest, insect, and disease resistance. Innovation is also used for high profitability in end-use markets like the ethanol, polyol, and sweetener industries.

Seed companies are developing new corn varieties and hybrids capable of pest resistance and increasing water use efficiency. Breeding initiatives concentrate on creating more disease-resistant corn hybrids.

Crop protection companies, such as Provivi, are working towards protecting acres of cultivation land from pest infestation. The company is expected to supply pheromone-based Mating Disruption products against Fall Armyworm infestation in corn to small-scale farmers in India.

The National Corn Growers Association is working with US farmers to improve land efficiency by 12 percent, reduce soil erosion by 13 percent, reduce GHG emissions by 13 percent, improve energy use efficiency by 13 percent and increase irrigation water use efficiency by 15 percent. The organization is committed to achieving these targets by 2030.

These efforts have the potential to influence global pricing and sustainability. While the demand for corn varies, production and distribution will always be progressive.

Source: https://www.beroeinc.com/press/corn-prices-to-remain-elevated-says-beroe/

December 15^th 2022

Wearable electronics could soon be made with a starch-based material to prevent e-waste.

Soft, wearable sensors can improve our lives, but these soft and stretchable electronic devices are nearly impossible to recycle. As a result, this electronic waste usually ends up in landfills or polluting the environment. Polymer scientists from the University of Groningen have developed a starch-based polymer that makes it possible to create a fully biodegradable soft material for sensors. They published a paper on this new material in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on 13 December.

Soft, stretchable polymers are used to make various kinds of electronic devices. They are used for example in smart watches to make contact with the skin. Sensors in shoes or clothing are also often based on these materials, as is the screen of your smartphone. ‘These soft materials are often made from mixtures of polymers, which are difficult to purify. As a result, they are dumped in landfills, often with the toxic metal components of the sensor still present. This kind of electronic waste is becoming a serious problem’, says Xiaohong Lan, first author of the paper and postdoc at the University of Groningen Polymer Science group led by Professor Katja Loos.

Backbone
Lan, Loos, and their colleagues have developed an alternative to these complex polymers: a biodegradable material that decomposes in a matter of weeks to a few months. ‘There are easy ways to remove the metal and polymers from the e-waste’, says Lan. ‘Of course, you could try to recycle the soft polymers, but that is often too complex, and therefore too expensive.’ The researchers’ new polymer decomposes, leaving only water and carbon dioxide behind.

‘To create a biodegradable polymer, we started out with a backbone of starch-derived dextrin carbohydrates,’ explains Lan. ‘Most polymer backbones contain chemical bonds, which are very strong. The dextrin backbone can be degraded by natural enzymes that are present in soil.’ Long fatty acid tails were added to the dextrin in the backbone, and the researchers were able to use the amount of fatty acids added per glucose unit to regulate the hydrophobicity of the polymer. ‘The enzymes that degrade the polymer require water, so if a material is too hydrophobic, they cannot do it. If the polymer is too hydrophilic, on the other hand, the material will not have the right properties.’

Brushes
The material needs to be soft and stretchable, but also dielectric, which means that the sensors can charge themselves with the electricity created by rubbing against fabric. Apart from the fatty acid tail, the modified dextrin polymer was also grafted with lactone monomers in a brush-like pattern. These brushes give the material its stretchability. The resulting ‘Advanced Scalable Supersoft Elastic Transparent material’ (ASSETm) has all the right properties. Experiments revealed that it is suited to seal in electrodes to produce sensors. ‘We compared our sensors with state-of-the-art commercial sensors, and found that ours worked at least as well,’ says Lan.

The production process is scalable, so there is no reason why this biodegradable ASSETm should not replace traditional soft polymers in smart electronics. Lan: ‘However, we do have to change our attitude towards starch, which is usually seen as a food product.’ Currently, approximately 60% of all starch is used in animal feed, 30% for human consumption, and 10% in medical applications. ‘However, starch consumption is decreasing, and there is a downward trend in cattle numbers.’

Discussion
Group leader Katja Loos is also enthusiastic about the new material: ‘We hope that our paper will launch a discussion on further curbing e-waste. This degradable polymer can really help reduce the amount of e-waste.’

Source: https://www.rug.nl/sciencelinx/nieuws/2022/12/wearable-electronics-from-starch-to-prevent-e-waste?lang=en

December 08^th 2022

11^th Starch Value Chain ASIA, January 31^st and February 01^st 2023.

CMT’s 11th Starch World ASIA series is back this year with a new improved version!

Rebranding to 11th Starch Value Chain ASIA, this event brings all players in the starch supply chain to share and discuss developments on realising the full potential of starch crops, value added pathways for cassava , protein and fibre value of pulses, rice, wheat and the importance of these components in the current shift towards healthy & sustainable diets.

The event will follow through with another conference on Sustainable Plant Protein & Fermentation Solutions – as nowadays starch and protein goes hand in hand together.

Thailand is promoting a vision of bio-economy for national development based on the sugarcane and cassava sectors. The vision of bio-economy of the Government of Thailand is to modernize agriculture by adding value to raw materials from farmers’ fields.

Highlights:

• CMD resistance in Thailand in normal and waxy pipelines.
• Cassava developments in the supply zone of Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia, and the pre-emptive work on some other diseases.
• A sustainable and integrated approach for cassava starch processing in Indonesia.
• Cassava based biodegradable plastics.

Source: https://www.cmtevents.com/aboutevent.aspx?ev=230103&

November 17^th 2022

Potato starch versus potato flour: what’s the difference?

Those on a gluten-free diet may be familiar with potato starch and potato flour, but there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye. One is the secret to ultra-crispy, deep-fried foods, and the other to long-lasting yeast breads. Here’s everything you need to know before you hit the baking aisle.

How is potato starch made?
Potato starch starts with washed and peeled raw potatoes. Using high-speed machinery, the starch is extracted from the potatoes, then dried. The result is a very fine, white powder, resembling cornstarch. Potato starch may also be produced as a by-product of processed potato foods, such as French fries or even potato chips.

What is potato starch used for?
Like corn starch, potato starch can be used to thicken soups, stews, sauces, or fruit pie fillings. For this reason, it makes an excellent cornstarch substitute.

Use it in place of cornstarch when deep frying foods, as it has a high-temperature endurance and gives a crisper result. Try sprinkling it on dinner rolls to keep them from going stale as quickly, or use it to dust the counter when rolling dough or fondant.

How is potato flour made?
Potato flour, like potato starch, starts with whole potatoes, but this is where their similarities end. The potatoes are cooked, dried, and ground into a fine powder. The result is a powder that’s more beige in color, similar in appearance to whole-wheat flour.

Potato flour is of course much higher in nutritional value than starch. Plus it’s rich in vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber, making it a healthier, gluten-free alternative to wheat flour. It does have a much stronger potato flavor than potato starch.

What is potato flour used for?
Potato flour can be used in conjunction with other types of flour (such as rice flour), for gluten-free baking. However, we don’t recommend using it as the sole flour because it holds a lot of moisture and can result in a too-dense, gummy baked good.

But potato flour’s ability to absorb moisture is also its strength: Add a small amount to yeast bread to help retain the freshness of the bread.

Like other flours, potato flour makes an excellent thickening or binding agent. Try using it in breading for meat — you’ll get a crisper result than you would with wheat flour. It can also help to enhance the potato flavor in potato dishes as well, like potato rolls.

Can you use them interchangeably?
Not really. The one exception is if you’re using potato flour for the purpose of extending the shelf-life of yeast breads, potato starch can be substituted. It’s not a one-to-one ratio, however. Potato flour is mostly starch, but not all, so you’ll want to use slightly less potato starch than you would flour (a ¾:1 potato starch to potato flour ratio). Otherwise, there are better substitutes for potato starch and flour that we’ll go over below.

Substitutes for potato starch.
Starches are a lot easier to substitute for than flour. Here are some common substitutes and ratios:

Corn starch: Use one tablespoon of cornstarch for every one tablespoon of potato starch.
Tapioca Starch: Use two tablespoons of tapioca starch for every one tablespoon of potato starch.
Arrowroot Powder: Use one tablespoon of arrowroot powder for every one tablespoon of potato starch.

Substitutes for potato flour.
The best substitute for potato flour is going to be potato flakes, which is essentially potato flour that hasn’t been ground as fine. You can either dissolve it into batter for baking, or use a blender or food process to grind it into a fine powder. Potato flakes can be substituted for potato flour using a 1:1 ratio.

If you’re using potato flour as a thickener, you can substitute two tablespoons of tapioca flour for every one tablespoon of potato flour.

Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=potato+starch+versus+potato+flour&ei=Qwl1Y7CeAt__7_UPl7K2sAw&start=0&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwjwy8ykibP7AhXf_7sIHReZDcY4HhDy0wN6BAgEEAQ&biw=1553&bih=789&dpr=1

November 07^th 2022

Ingredion makes progress toward texturizer capacity expansion plans to meet increased global demand for specialty food starches.

Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions to the food and beverage manufacturing industry, today announced that it has completed one-third of its $160 million in capital investments to significantly expand capacity for a range of modified and clean label specialty starches across its global supply chain. At the Company’s June Investor Day, its leadership team announced $160 million in capital investments through 2024 to selectively expand and increasingly localize its production capacity to meet customers’ growing demands for specialty starches that provide texture for taste along with formulating and label-friendly options for food and beverages. In September, the Company also announced that it had opened a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Shandong, China, which more than doubles its starch production capacity and capabilities in the country.

“Over the last year and a half, we have seen strong customer demand recovery for our starch solutions in both foodservice applications as well as traditional packaged food and beverages. In addition, the Ukraine conflict has disrupted corn and other grain markets, which has forced an increase in the cost of many food ingredients. During this time, as customers managed the challenges of rising formulation costs, they have looked to specialty starches given their versatility and affordability relative to other ingredients,” said Pierre Perez y Landazuri, senior vice president of corporate strategy, specialties and the president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

“In addition to releasing capacity through continuous improvement initiatives, the investments we have announced will enable us to meet the heightened demand more sustainably for our customers with increased local sourcing in the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific. These investments are improving our global supply chain flexibility for corn, waxy corn, tapioca, potato, and rice-based specialty starches. The actions we are taking combined with our deep market expertise, technical knowledge and decades-long experience innovating with specialty starch solutions will continue to make us a trusted partner for our customers,” concluded Perez y Landazuri.

In addition to providing capacity expansion for future growth, the moves are being made to reduce long-term delivered cost while taking into account the environmental footprint of the products being sold to customers. The Company recently announced that it is the first major food ingredients company to engage with HowGood, the world’s largest product sustainability database for the food and beverage industry. The relationship will deliver increased transparency for the Company’s ingredients and will further enable its customers to innovate to meet the growing demand for more sustainable products.

Source: https://ir.ingredionincorporated.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ingredion-makes-progress-toward-texturizer-capacity-expansion

October 13_^th 2022

Loryma offers wheat starch as an adhesive with gloss finish.

Loryma launches Lory Starch Opal, a spray-on adhesive for seeds and other decorative food seasonings. The spray is made from pregelatinized wheat starch with a focus on solubility to ease its ability to be sprayed on.

The spray design makes for a hygienic application, as the typical methods of using brushes or immersion baths do not contact the dough. The product can be sprayed onto baked goods for boutique creators or used at high volumes for industrial production.

Loryma is a German-based global producer of distributed wheat proteins and native and modified wheat starches. The company explains that its adhesive’s production process reduces waste compared to current adherent food options.

“If the decorative additions stay on the substrate throughout the entire production and packaging process, there is less food waste and the whole process is more hygienic, which is obviously desirable for manufacturers,” according to Norbert Klein, head of product development at Loryma.

“Manufacturers want fewer rejects, while consumers want an appetizing product. Lory Starch Opal meets both these demands: decor, grains and seeds adhere firmly and with a glossy surface, the baked goods make a fresher impression. Food waste due to material loss is thus reduced to everyone’s satisfaction.”

The adhesive comes from a fine, white, free-flowing powder mixed with water to dissolve, creating an instant product that does not sediment. It has a very low, cold viscosity, which makes it possible for the solution to be sprayed.

Loryma underscores that by food producers using their product to stick seeds and other decorative toppers onto foods, food waste can be reduced. The company says this method will work due to its product being stickier than others with its ability to grab more seasonings and waste less.

According to the Food and Agriculture Association, 1.3 billion metric tons of food are wasted yearly, including about 20% of the total seed production.

Klein spoke on the extensive possible applications of Starch Opal, saying it could extend into breakfast cereals to reduce the amount of sugar used. “Flakes and extruded products usually have high-sugar coatings. These products are often consumed by children and a reduction of the sugar content is therefore desirable.”

He states that part of the reason for the high sugar content is its adhesive properties. “For example, for the adhesion of additions such as nuts for gloss and crunchiness. If one part of Lory Starch Opal is added to the usual sugar suspension, the final product can be reduced in sugar without functional limitations.”

“Lory Starch Opal can also be used as a vegan alternative for milk or egg components and promises a glossy finish, thus helping to enhance the look of the finished product,” he says.

Source: https://www.snackandbakery.com/articles/99552-loryma-debuts-pregelatinized-wheat-starch

October 06^th 2022

Health ingredient specialist BENEO has opened a new rice starch production line in a special inauguration event.

Following a €50 million (US$49.4 million) investment, the capacity of BENEO’s Belgium facility has risen by 50%.

Attendees included Nadia Lapage (Secretary General FEVIA 1 Flanders), Carl Devlies (Alderman of City of Leuven), Dominic Speleers (Member of Executive Board of BENEO), Christoph Boettger (Member of Executive Board of BENEO) and Roland Vanhoegaerden (Operations Managing Director for BENEO’s Rice Ingredients). The addition of the new line increases production capacity at BENEO’s Wijgmaal facility in Belgium by 50%, allowing the company to continue meeting growing demand for its clean label rice ingredients.

BENEO is a global provider of rice flour, starch and protein for the food and feed industry and the company’s unique rice derivatives are used in the production of a wide range of clean label products. The increasing demand for natural and clean label ingredients, in a wide range of applications, has led to BENEO’s production line expansion.

Roland Vanhoegaerden, Operations Managing Director for BENEO’s rice ingredients said: “From bakery and dairy to confectionery and baby food products, the demand is growing for our clean label ingredients. Here at BENEO we believe in investing for the long-term, and with the addition of this new rice starch production line, we have built even more resilience into our rice portfolio. As food manufacturers continue to move away from artificial additives and replace them with natural alternatives, we are well placed to meet their needs with our rice starch ingredients.”

The impact is on cost saving, but also on the environment, due to lower carbon emissions and a reduction in traffic. Our factory is in the middle of an urban area and by increasing barge use, we can reduce congestion and noise levels in the neighbourhood

The plant in Wijgmaal has a proud 160-year history in the area and BENEO has been significantly investing in the facility in recent years, to make it a frontrunner in sustainability. With the new production line BENEO’s water consumption at the Wijgmaal site stays the same while the production capacity increases by 50% at the same time. This is possible thanks to a two-step process of cleansing: first contaminants are separated from the used water by an evaporator. The condensate is in turn purified in a second step, resulting in water of drinking quality.

The plant receives two-thirds of rice raw material by barge and just one- third by truck due to another investment taken a few years ago.

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Vanhoegaerden continued: “The impact is on cost saving, but also on the environment, due to lower carbon emissions and a reduction in traffic. Our factory is in the middle of an urban area and by increasing barge use, we can reduce congestion and noise levels in the neighbourhood. All in all, the addition of the new line increases our production capacity, enabling us to continue meeting growing demand for our clean label rice ingredients, whilst minimising our impact on the environment and neighbourhood.”

Source: https://nutraceuticalbusinessreview.com/news/article_page/BENEO_opens_additional_rice_starch_production_line/204029

October 03^rd 2022

China restricts exports of corn starch, signaling supply worries.

• Government wants to stabilize prices and curb inflation risks.
• Starch is shipped to the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

China has curbed exports of corn starch in a signal that the world’s biggest corn importer is likely worried about local supplies.

The government has asked companies to suspend shipments to stabilize corn prices and contain inflation risks, according to Ma Wenfeng, a senior analyst at the Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Co. Corn starch is commonly used as an ingredient to thicken soups and sauces or for paper products and adhesives.

Despite the relatively small volume of exports, the move underscores Beijing’s concerns over grain supplies and rising prices. China imports corn mainly from the US, which may face a smaller harvest this season, and Ukraine, where shipments are choked off after Russia’s invasion. While China produces most of the corn it consumes, poor weather has threatened output.

“Corn prices are high and cheaper Ukraine supplies cannot be shipped easily,” Ma said. “Exporting corn starch would further push up domestic prices.”

Traders and processors that Bloomberg spoke to confirmed the curbs, without giving details on how the notice was communicated. The agriculture ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment. Monday is a public holiday in China.

Customs data show China’s corn starch exports fell to just 900 tons in August from more than 40,000 tons in July and 23,240 tons a year earlier. The product is shipped mainly to the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Global benchmark corn prices have jumped about 15% this year amid the war in Ukraine and adverse weather in major producing regions including the US and Europe. To reduce supply risks, China has tried to diversify its corn imports and is accelerating shipments from Brazil.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-03/china-restricts-corn-starch-exports

September o1^st 2022

LG Chem and ADM to build two bioplastic facilities in Decatur, Illinois (USA).

LG Chem Ltd., the largest Korean chemical firm, has reportedly announced a partnership with the US-based food processing organization Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) to build two manufacturing plants in Illinois, USA.

The production facilities will be manufacturing biodegradable plastics that are extensively used in food packaging applications.

In a press release, the South Korean chemical giant stated that the two companies would be constructing a plant to generate 75,000 tons of PLA or polylactic acid annually in Decatur under the two joint ventures.

The construction of a separate facility will take place in the same location to generate a feedstock for PLA, up to 150,000 tons of pure corn-based lactic acid.

The demand for PLA, a bioplastic created from natural materials like sugar cane and corn starch, is rising quickly as a substitute for plastics generated using fossil fuels. Lactic acid, its primary ingredient, is produced through the fermentation of corn starch. The 100% bio-based plastic takes several months to decompose naturally and can be used to make tableware or food containers.

As per reports, the company will release detailed information about the investment size and breakdown in H1 2023. The construction will begin in 2023 and is aimed to be completed in 2025.

Post the project’s completion, LG Chem will become the first Korean firm to establish a PLA factory.

According to Shin Hak-cheol, CEO of LG Chem, the strategic partnership is one of the sustainable growth initiatives that may directly contribute to alleviating environmental problems, including climate change and plastic waste.

The demand for biodegradable plastics has increased due to the continual efforts made by multinational corporations to go green.

As per LG Chem, the size of the global bioplastics industry, which is projected to be $10.2 billion this year, will increase to around $25.9 billion by 2026.

Source: https://investors.adm.com/news/news-details/2022/LG-Chem-and-ADM-Launch-Joint-Ventures-Announce-Intended-Location-for-U.S.-Production-of-Lactic-Acid-and-Polylactic-Acid-Production/default.aspx

Source: https://www.lgchem.com/company/information-center/press-release/news-detail-9095?lang=en_GLOBAL

August 31^st 2022

Drug release could be tailored by adapting the type of starch used and the tablet shape, highlighting the promise of 3D printing for future personalised drug delivery applications.

Researchers from UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, Spain, have successfully produced different types of starch-based pharmaceutical tablets using 3D printing.

The aim of the study, published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics, was to produce 3D printed starch-based tablets for the tailored delivery of hydrophobic drugs. Hydrophobic drugs – those that poorly water soluble – account for some 40% of marketed drugs and the 60% of the drug candidates in research, the paper notes.

The researchers acknowledged that starch is widely used as an excipient in the pharmaceutical industry. However, they hypothesised that using starches from different botanical origin would lead to different drug release kinetics.

“We were able to prepare tablets based on three types of starch – two types of maize starch (normal and waxy) and one type of potato starch – with different geometries and loaded with a non-soluble drug,” noted Kizkitza González, author of the study and member of UPV/EHU’s Materials+Technologies Group.

First, the gelatinisation parameters of the three starches and the printability of their inks were analysed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheological measurements.

The three types of starch displayed appropriate rheological properties, although in the case of potato starch the printing process turned out to be more laborious.

Second, the influence of the botanical origin on the morphology, mechanical properties and swelling capacity of the 3D-printed tablets was evaluated.

“We observed the importance of the botanic origin of the starch in practically all the properties, such as porous microstructure, the formation of a stable network or the release of the drug,” said González.

“In the case of normal maize starch, drug release is instantaneous and the drug is fully released within 10 minutes; in the case of waxy maize starch and potato starch, release is more continuous and can take up to six hours for full release,” she added.

The researchers were also able to demonstrate the importance of tablet geometry in drug release.

Finally, tablets combining different types of starch were printed, indicating how release can take place in two stages.

González explained: “For example, in the case of an infection, in an initial stage using normal maize starch, a medicine could be released immediately to alleviate pain, and in a subsequent stage, with either of the other two types of starch, an antibiotic could be released more continuously.”

González stressed that the work is only the first stage in a long process, but she maintains that “the starch-based 3D printed tablets they produced displayed promising properties for future personalised drug delivery applications”.

Source: https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/news/174054/3d-printing-of-starch-based-tablets-for-personalised-drug-delivery/

August 21^st 2022

Perfect decomposition: This Goa startup’s alternative to plastic wrappers is made of corn starch.

A small shampoo sachet is, by definition, a single-use plastic. Usually torn and used within a month of its purchase, it is quickly discarded and often ends up choking landfills and polluting the nearby environment.

However, imagine if this sachet could instead decompose with no harm to the environment in just three months.

This is what is promised by LaFabrica Craft Pvt Ltd, a company based in Margao, Goa that designs ecofriendly products for common plastic packaging items. The company has recently developed fully biodegradable shampoo sachets and chutney packets using a natural biopolymer.

This is a material derived from organic substances such as corn and tapioca starch, seaweed and casein (a cow milk protein).

“We use corn and tapioca starch as this is easily available, along with some other additives to make a polymer called polybutylene adipate terephthalate or PBAT,” Sachin Gangadharan, a co-founder of the company, said.“From this, we have made a material called Phimer that degrades in 90 days, unlike other PBAT items in the market that can take twice as long,” he claimed.

LaFabrica has partnered with Phitons Bioengineering, a Bengaluru-based biotechnology company, to make Phimer. “Most biopolymers are imported from other countries and can be expensive. Hence, we wanted to offer a homegrown solution that is affordable,” Sonja Coates, co-founder and director of LaFabrica, said.

Plastic alternatives have increasingly gained focus in recent years, amid reduced use of the products made by the polluting material. These alternatives include bamboo, banana fibre, coconut husk and paper or cardboard.

LaFabrica has also designed such products, for instance, a paper beverage container that can be used for food delivery or takeaway orders. The container comes with a lid that interlocks on its own, eliminating the need for plastic tape to secure it.

“The container is lined with a thin biopolymer film made of polylactic acid or PLA that is derived from corn starch biopolymer and is widely available,” Gangadharan said. He has also made wallets that interlock in the same way. Both products are planned for launch soon.

An architect by training, Gangadharan’s first products were biodegradable paper carry bags and pouches. “I had always been curious about how a paper can be designed to help achieve better use. I started experimenting with and redesigning paper bags to enable them to carry more weight,” he said.

LaFabrica’s bags, which have been patented for their design, can carry up to 20 kg of weight. The company tries to keep prices competitive, Gangadharan said; for instance, the pouches are priced at Rs 2.2 each. Sumehr Gwalani, a Goa-based entrepreneur who runs a shrimp delivery startup, has been sourcing packing pouches from LaFabrica for more than a year. “The company was able to modify the order according to our needs. We found it to be completely biodegradable and our customers appreciate it,” he said. The company plans to keep experimenting with more products, Gangadharan said.

Source: https://www.lafabricacraft.com/

July 27^th 2022

Want to combine two fluids? Researchers have developed a path to optimize the stirrer form and velocity to provide the perfect end result.

Understanding how fluids combine is vital for purposes starting from the mixing of meals and cosmetics to the monitoring of plastic particles in Earth’s oceans. Using a supercomputer, Peter Schmid of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia, and Maximillian Eggl of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, have now discovered a collection of stirrer shapes and stirring velocities to extra successfully combine two fluids. Videos of their simulations illustrate the best way adjustments in each components can drastically alter how homogeneous the system takes care of mixing.

In their simulations, Schmid and Eggl poured two liquids right into a cylindrical container. They then positioned into the container two round stirrers, which they moved for a set time on the similar fixed velocity in a round, clockwise path across the cylinder. This “control” simulation exhibits {a partially} blended system with giant areas the place the unique fluids stay unmixed.

The duo then adjusted the stirrers’ shapes to optimize the blending of the fluids. They discovered higher mixing—a extra homogeneous system as soon as stirring halted—when the stirrers had irregular shapes. The prime stirrer resembled a fairy’s star-shaped wand, whereas the opposite appeared like a pooper-scooper. These stirrers induced within the system extra vortices, which improved mixing.

Once Schmid and Eggl had finalized the shapes of their stirrers, they then adjusted the speed at which the stirrers moved. They discovered that the perfect mixing occurred if the highest stirrer traveled sooner than the underside one, with each shifting clockwise initially after which the underside one taking a small, counterclockwise leap on the finish.

Finally, the duo had the pc concurrently modify stirrer form and velocity. Doing that, they discovered that the perfect stirrers had smoother edges and fewer excessive shapes. The star-shaped wand was rounded right into a canine-tooth-like form, whereas the pooper-scooper was remodeled right into a stubby tadpole. For the stirrer movement, the 2 stirrers now not moved in the identical route. Rather, the highest stirrer moved counterclockwise and the underside clockwise, with the 2 showing to pinch the interface between the 2 fluids. At the top of the simulations, the stirrers jiggled forwards and backwards, an motion that created extra vortices, making mixing extra environment friendly.

While Schmid and Eggl acknowledge that the majority industries wouldn’t implement such irregular stirrer shapes or stirring strategies, they hope that their findings may shift how individuals take into consideration the blending of fluids.

Source: https://journals.aps.org/prfluids/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.7.073904

July 29^th 2022

Diet with resistant starch reduces cancer risk in Lynch syndrome.

A trial spanning more than 20 years and almost 1,000 participants worldwide has found an important result – people with a condition that gives them a higher chance of developing certain cancers can reduce the risk of some of those cancers by more than 60 percent, simply by adding more resistant starch to their diets.

In fact, the results were so compelling when it came to cutting the risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers specifically that the researchers are now looking to replicate them to ensure they’re not missing anything.

“We found that resistant starch reduces a range of cancers by over 60 percent. The effect was most obvious in the upper part of the gut,” says lead researcher and nutritionist John Mathers from Newcastle University in the UK.

Upper GI cancers include esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers.

“The results are exciting, but the magnitude of the protective effect in the upper GI tract was unexpected, so further research is required to replicate these findings,” adds one of the researchers, Tim Bishop, a genetic epidemiologist from the University of Leeds.

Resistant starch is a type of starch that passes through the small intestine and then ferments in the large intestine, where it feeds beneficial gut bacteria. It can be bought as a fiber-like supplement, and is naturally in a range of foods, including slightly green bananas, oats, cooked and cooled pasta and rice, peas, and beans.

The double-blind trial was carried out between 1999 and 2005 and involved a group of 918 people with a condition known as Lynch syndrome. Lynch syndrome is one of the most common genetic predispositions to cancer that we know of, with around one in 300 people estimated to carry an associated gene.

Those who’ve inherited Lynch syndrome genes have a significantly increased risk of developing colorectal cancer, as well as gastric, endometrial, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, urinary tract, kidney, bile duct, small bowel, and brain cancers.

To figure out how they could reduce this risk, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, with 463 unknowingly given a daily 30 gram dose of resistant starch in powdered form for two years – roughly the equivalent of eating a not-quite-ripe banana daily.

Another 455 people with Lynch syndrome took a daily placebo that looked like powdered starch but didn’t contain active ingredients.

The two groups were then followed up 10 years later. The results of this follow-up are what the researchers have just published.

In the follow-up period, there had only been 5 new cases of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers among the 463 people who’d taken the resistant starch. This is in comparison with 21 cases of upper GI cancer among the 455 people in the placebo group – a pretty remarkable reduction.

“This is important as cancers of the upper GI tract are difficult to diagnose and often are not caught early on,” says Mathers.

However, there was one area where the resistant starch didn’t make much difference – in the rate of bowel cancers.

Further work is needed to figure out exactly what’s going on here, but the team has some ideas.

“We think that resistant starch may reduce cancer development by changing the bacterial metabolism of bile acids and to reduce those types of bile acids that can damage our DNA and eventually cause cancer,” says Mathers.

“However, this needs further research.”

To be clear, this trial was carried out on people already genetically predisposed to developing cancer and doesn’t necessarily apply to the broader public. But there could be a lot to learn by better understanding how resistive starch can help protect against cancer.

The original trial was called the CAPP2 study, and the team are now carrying out a follow-up called CaPP3, involving more than 1,800 people with Lynch syndrome.

While it may sound concerning that the rate of colorectal cancers didn’t seem affected by the resistive starch, don’t worry, the study had good news on that front, too.

The original trial also looked at whether taking aspirin daily could reduce cancer risk. Back in 2020, the team published results showing that aspirin reduced the risk of large bowel cancers in Lynch syndrome patients by 50 percent.

“Patients with Lynch syndrome are high risk as they are more likely to develop cancers, so finding that aspirin can reduce the risk of large bowel cancers and resistant starch other cancers by half is vitally important,” says Newcastle University geneticist Sir John Burns who ran the trial with Mathers.

“Based on our trial, NICE [the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] now recommend Aspirin for people at high genetic risk of cancer, the benefits are clear – aspirin and resistant starch work.”

Source: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerpreventionresearch/article/doi/10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-22-0044/707189/Cancer-Prevention-with-Resistant-Starch-in-Lynch

July 18^th 2022

GPC unveils Fybrin: High-fiber resistant starch with vast reformulation capabilities.

Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) has introduced Fybrin, a corn-based resistant starch, low on calories, that can be used in formulations to achieve high fiber claims. Fybrin can be applied in pasta, tortillas, pizzas and even beverages.

The company unveiled its product in the US, with plans to launch internationally in the near future.

“Our company is very focused on fiber and growing into that area, just with the many health benefits of fiber, anything from gut health to calorie reduction. Fiber covers many of those health points,” states Kelly Belknap, business development manager.

“There’s just an overall increased recognition between the role that fiber plays in overall health, from anything from satiety to weight management, to immunity. With COVID-19 we’ve all been researching how to boost our immune systems.”

GPC’s Fybrin has 85% to 90% fiber and 54 calories per 100 g. In comparison, according to GPC, a typical starch would be around 400 calories.

Nine out of ten women and 97% of men do not meet the recommended intake of dietary fiber, according to the business. A similar finding than the one of Tate & Lyle that flagged that only 9% of UK adults met the daily recommended fiber intake.

90% of women and 97% of men do not meet the recommended intake of dietary fiber, according to GPC.

Source: https://www.grainprocessing.com/news-insights/fiber-rich-comfort-foods-on-display-at-ift

July 12^th 2022

Pea starch helps Lamb Weston reduce supply chain snags, trim food waste.

Alternative ingredient usage has helped food and beverage companies maintain production levels in a time of frequent supply shocks. The global supply of wheat, which starch is often made of, has been tight due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and extreme weather.

Starch was among the inputs for which Lamb Weston executives have reported significant cost inflation for in the past three quarters, according to earnings calls. It was “particularly challenging” to obtain earlier this year, General Mills Group President of North America Retail Jon Nudi said on a March earnings call. This led the company to adjust product formulations — as many as 20 times in some cases — to keep shelves stocked.

Replacing traditional ingredients can also benefit sustainability goals. Lamb Weston’s supplier’s pea starch is Upcycled Certified, per its ESG report. Upcycled products create products out of food that otherwise would have been wasted and contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Upcycled Food Association. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 30% to 40% of the country’s food supply is wasted.

For a product to be Upcycled Certified by the association, it must have 10% or more upcycled ingredients by weight or meet a threshold for tonnage diverted by sales tier.

“We are able to help eliminate food waste by using this starch as a value-added ingredient,” Lamb Weston President and CEO Tom Werner said in the report.

How much pea starch Lamb Weston is using versus traditional starches and how much food waste it has avoided through the alternative is unclear. The company did not respond to a request for comment. However, cutting supply chain food waste is a high priority for Lamb Weston. Its 2030 goals include reducing food waste from the production process by 50%, versus a 2020 baseline.

Lamb Weston has used other upcycling methods to further reduce its food waste. The company uses potato pieces too short to be fries in other items like hash brown patties. Other potato byproducts are “refined into a specialized starch” for coatings and batters, the ESG report says.

Source: https://news.lambweston.com/newsroom-home/default.aspx

June 24^th 2022

Starch-based fibers enhance protection and reduce spoilage.

Aiming to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic food wrap and containers, a Rutgers scientist has developed a biodegradable, plant-based coating that can be sprayed on foods, guarding against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and transportation damage.

The scalable process could potentially reduce the adverse environmental impact of plastic food packaging as well as protect human health.

“We knew we needed to get rid of the petroleum-based food packaging that is out there and replace it with something more sustainable, biodegradable and nontoxic,” said Philip Demokritou, director of the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center, and the Henry Rutgers Chair in Nanoscience and Environmental Bioengineering at the Rutgers School of Public Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. “And we asked ourselves at the same time, ‘Can we design food packaging with a functionality to extend shelf life and reduce food waste while enhancing food safety?’’’

Demokritou added, “And what we have come up with is a scalable technology, which enables us to turn biopolymers, which can be derived as part of a circular economy from food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food directly. This is part of new generation, ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging.”

The research was conducted in concert with scientists at Harvard University and funded by the Harvard-Nanyang Technological University/Singapore Sustainable Nanotechnology Initiative.

Their article, published in the science journal Nature Food, describes the new kind of packaging technology using the polysaccharide/biopolymer-based fibers. Like the webs cast by the Marvel comic book character Spider-Man, the stringy material can be spun from a heating device that resembles a hair dryer and “shrink-wrapped” over foods of various shapes and sizes, such as an avocado or a sirloin steak. The resulting material that encases food products is sturdy enough to protect bruising and contains antimicrobial agents to fight spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli and listeria.

The research paper includes a description of the technology called focused rotary jet spinning, a process by which the biopolymer is produced, and quantitative assessments showing the coating extended the shelf life of avocados by 50 percent. The coating can be rinsed off with water and degrades in soil within three days, according to the study.

The new packaging is targeted at addressing a serious environmental issue: the proliferation of petroleum-based plastic products in the waste stream. Efforts to curb the use of plastic, such as legislation in states like New Jersey to eliminate plastic shopping bag distribution at grocery stores, can help, Demokritou said. But he wanted to do more.

“I’m not against plastics,” Demokritou said. “I’m against petroleum-based plastics that we keep throwing out there because only a tiny portion of them can be recycled. Over the past 50 to 60 years, during the Age of Plastic, we’ve placed 6 billion metric tons of plastic waste into our environment. They are out there degrading slowly. And these tiny fragments are making it into the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe.”

Rising evidence from Demokritou’s research team and others point to potential health implications.

The paper describes how the new fibers encapsulating the food are laced with naturally occurring antimicrobial ingredients – thyme oil, citric acid and nisin. Researchers in the Demokritou research team can program such smart materials to act as sensors, activating and destroying bacterial strains to ensure food will arrive untainted. This will address growing concern over food-borne illnesses as well as lower the incidence of food spoilage, Demokritou said.

Source: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-scientist-develops-antimicrobial-plant-based-food-wrap-designed-replace-plastic

June 24^th 2022

Meade Farm showcases new starch-friendly potato varieties to World Potato Congress delegates.

Viewing new starch-friendly potato varieties and learning more about the Meade Farm starch operation were top of the agenda for the recent visit of World Potato Congress (WPC) delegates.

After three days of ground-breaking research presentations and industry networking in Dublin, close to 100 of the 1,000 delegates from the 11th WPC journeyed to Meade Farm in Lobinstown, Navan, Co. Meath on June 2, to see sustainability in action.

The delegates, from over 20 countries, were particularly interested in the innovative measures by the family farm business to more fully utilise their raw materials.

Meade’s 2020 investment in a state-of-the-art potato-starch extraction facility has created a new market which can aid the long-term sustainability of Ireland’s potato crops.

While the extraction operation at Meade Farm derives much of its sustainability credentials from the utilisation of surplus and Class II potato stocks, growing specific starch-friendly varieties can reduce carbon emissions and can serve as a back-up should surplus/Class II stocks become depleted.

Varieties with a higher dry matter content produce more starch and therefore, less tonnage goes through the system, requiring less energy.

Meade Farm is currently trialling the Ardeche variety which has over 25% dry matter and is high yielding.

This blight-resistant variety is also an option for organic growing, so might be an option for diversification into that market. Although not a starch variety, the processing variety, Palace, has a high dry matter content of 23% and a higher yield with a lower nitrogen application than most varieties currently used.

“Higher yields and less nitrogen use all add up for greater sustainability in our starch extraction and overall,” said Robert Devlin, general manager, Meade Farm.

“We look forward to testing out these varieties in the field and in the extraction process. All going well, they will be part of our planting schedule next March.”

Since commissioning the starch extraction facility in 2020, 3,500t of potato starch have been sold to manufacturers in Ireland, the UK and other export markets.

Its popularity as a certified gluten-free ingredient for thickening sauces, soups and stews, gluten-free baking and for crispy, light frying have earned it the food service product of the year in the Irish Quality Food Awards.

The world starch market grew by 9% year-on-year for the last six years due to its increased use in alternatives in plastic packaging, meat-free and sugar-free foodstuffs. The potato starch market has grown by 11% since last year.

For companies that are sustainability conscious, Meade potato starch boasts impressive sustainability credentials. The use of surplus potato stocks ticks the box of one of the top-three most actionable ways to stop climate change by preventing food waste.

The incorporation of a wind turbine and solar panels, as well as other renewable energy systems, to power the extraction plant also ticks many sustainability boxes.

“Added to those significant benefits are the carbon emissions saved by using a local producer versus starch shipped from Northern Europe or the US,” said Eleanor Meade, business operations manager.

“The case for using our potato starch really adds up, especially for manufacturers who are keen to show their commitment to reducing carbon emissions.”

It takes a potato one hour and a journey through approximately 300m of machinery before it is turned into starch. It can take up to 8t of potatoes to make 1t of starch, depending on the dry matter content, variety and time of the year.

Along the way, the potato undergoes 22 stages before it is turned into pure food-grade starch.

The various processes include washing; de-stoning; grading; rasping; sieving; de-sanding; hydro-cycloning; vacuuming; drying; cooling; vibrating; and bagging.

Meade potato starch is currently sold to manufacturers and food service clients in 25kg bag in tonne pallets and to retailers in 250g retail packs. It is currently stocked in Evergreen Health Food Stores and in its online shop. Other retail listings will soon be announced.

Source: https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/meade-farm-showcases-new-starch-friendly-potato-varieties/

June 22^nd 2022

5th EU Starch Value Chain, 27-28 Sep, 2022 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

At this conference following topics are being presented (with named presenter, position and company name):

EU starch industry outlook for 2023 – Staying resilient and competitive in challenging times
Jamie Fortescue, Managing Director
Starch Europe

Update and results on the Crispr short chain amylopectin potato project
Mathias Samuelsson, Head of Sales and Development
Lyckeby Starch AB

Generating wheat material with a low acrylamide-forming potential using CRISPR/Cas9
Prof. Nigel Halford, Principal Research Scientist
Rothamsted Research

Soluble dextrin fibre – new functional carbohydrates from potato starch
Prof. Dr. Janusz Kapusniak, Vice President
European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence

Update on Omnia’s new starch and maltodextrine plan
Koen Homburg, Commercial & Technical Director
Omnia Europe

Circular economy in sweeteners refining with Closed-Loop IEX
Peter van Iperen, Food Process Director
SUEZ Water Technologies and Solutions

Extraction of starch from mung bean & applications
Andre Heilemann, Director R&D
Emsland-Stärke Gmbh

Natural clean label thickener with high fiber content
Aleksandra Wielguszewska, Business Development Manager
Lutkala

Germinated bean to increase potential of fava beans & its food applications
Marjut Lamminaho, Innovation & Food
Sprau® / Viking Malt Oy

The plant protein revolution: Does it all add up? A hard look at the economics of carbohydrate and protein crops
Mr. Simon Bentley, Managing Director
Commoditia Ltd

Protein combinations for a tailored approach to texturates for meat & fish alternatives
Dr. Kerstin Burseg Head of Research & Product Development
GoodMills Innovation GmbH

Sustainable production of protein concentrates for dairy applications
Janis Garancs, Managing Director
Aloja Starkelsen SIA

The promising future for fava ingredients
Gijs van Elst, Chief Innovation Officer
Meelunie B.V.

Leveraging fermentation to develop clean label healthy fat for plant based dairy
Tomas Turner, CEO & Co-Founder
Cultivated Biosciences

Converting low-value ag byproducts into high-value alternative meats
Mr. Paul Shapiro, CEO & Co-founder
The Better Meat Co.

Source: https://www.cmtevents.com/eventschedule.aspx?ev=220927&

June 15^th 2022

Approach is designed to slow starch digestion to avoid blood sugar spikes.

Researchers announced early tests of a new potato processing technique designed to make our bodies digest potato starch more slowly. Laboratory demonstrations show that the approach blocks certain digestive enzymes from reaching the potato starch as quickly, leading to a more controlled release of dietary glucose.
“There is a perception that potato foods are unhealthy because eating a large amount of some potato foods can cause a rapid increase in blood sugar, which is a risk for people with diabetes or those who want to control body weight,” said Amy Lin, PhD, the study’s principal investigator and lead of the Food Carbohydrate Program of the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI) at ASTAR. “Our team revealed that toggling the accessibility of two digestion enzymes— α-amylase and mucosal α-glucosidase— in the small intestine is a successful strategy to make dietary glucose slowly and continuously release from potatoes.” Andrea Gomez Maqueo Cerecer, postdoctoral research fellow at ASTAR, will present the findings online at NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 14-16. The study was supervised by Lin, and other research team members included Grace Ng, Ru Min Bek and Jei Xi Wong.

For the new processing technique, researchers cut potatoes into cubes and blanched them in hot water with a food grade ingredient for 30 minutes. The ingredient used in the solution has been designated “generally recognized as safe,” a standard established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for substances considered safe for use in food.
This process causes a reaction with pectin, a water-soluble fiber in potatoes, creating a gelling structure that acts as a barrier between starch granules and digestive enzymes. This protective layer is porous, and the processing method allows the size of the pores to be controlled to moderate how quickly α-amylase is able to penetrate the potato parenchyma cells and degrade starch to small molecules. Converting starch molecules to glucose relies on mucosal α-glucosidase, which is too big to penetrate those pores. Therefore, the elevation of dietary glucose of processed potatoes depends on the how quickly small starch molecules leach out of parenchyma cells and are digested by mucosal α-glucosidase.
“Without our treatment, enzymes move freely in and out of cells, and starch is quickly degraded by both enzymes and rapidly converted to glucose,” said Lin. “The treatment allows the starch to be slowly degraded to prevent a spike in glycemia and then fully converted to glucose to meet our energy and nutritional needs.”
The technique is not designed to prevent the potato from being digested, but rather to slow digestion to avoid a rapid increase in blood sugar. Researchers say the modification could also help consumers feel full for a longer period after eating the treated potatoes, helping to avoid overeating.
Researchers report that the method performed well in tests with a simulated digestion process in the laboratory. Treatment increased the fraction of the starch that is considered slowly digestible from 10% to 35% and significantly reduced the ability for the enzyme a-amylase to access starch within the cell walls.
Since the process essentially pre-cooks the potatoes, treated potatoes are not shelf-stable but could be frozen and then cooked or further processed for dishes such as roasted potatoes, hash browns, soups or stir-fry, researchers say. Initial taste tests had good results in terms of digestibility and texture.
As a next step, the researchers are preparing to further test impacts on digestibility in a clinical trial. They also plan to study whether a similar approach could be used to improve other staple foods.

Source: https://nutrition.org/new-processing-technique-could-make-potatoes-healthier/

May 25^th 2022

Researchers use CRISPR technology to modify starches in potatoes.

Humble potatoes are a rich source not only of dietary carbohydrates for humans, but also of starches for numerous industrial applications. Texas A&M AgriLife scientists are learning how to alter the ratio of potatoes’ two starch molecules — amylose and amylopectin — to increase both culinary and industrial applications.

For example, waxy potatoes, which are high in amylopectin content, have applications in the production of bioplastics, food additives, adhesives and alcohol.
Two articles recently published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and the Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture journals outline how CRISPR technology can advance the uses of the world’s largest vegetable crop.
Both papers include the work done by Stephany Toinga, Ph.D., who was a graduate student in the lab of Keerti Rathore, Ph.D., AgriLife Research plant biotechnologist in the Texas A&M Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology and Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. Also co-authoring both papers was Isabel Vales, Ph.D., an AgriLife Research potato breeder in the Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences. Toinga is now a Texas A&M AgriLife Research postdoctoral associate with Vales.
“The information and knowledge we gained from these two studies will help us introduce other desirable traits in this very important crop,” Rathore said.

Potatoes are the No. 1 vegetable crop worldwide and the third most important human food crop, only behind rice and wheat in global production. Potatoes are grown in over 160 countries on 40.8 million acres and serve as a staple food for more than a billion people.
With a medium-size potato supplying approximately 160 calories, mostly derived from starch, the tubers constitute an important energy source for many people worldwide, Rathore said. Potatoes also provide other necessary nutrients, including vitamins and minerals.
Potatoes are a cool-season crop that is relatively sensitive to heat and drought stress. The crop also suffers from pests such as Colorado beetle, aphids and nematodes, as well as diseases including early and late blight, zebra chip, Fusarium dry rot and a number of viral diseases. Late blight was the cause of the Irish potato famine.

The amount of starch in potato tubers is the main factor that determines a potato’s use. High-starch potatoes are often used to make processed foods such as french fries, chips and dehydrated potatoes, Vales said.
Potatoes with low to medium starch levels are frequently used for the fresh or table stock market, she said. For the fresh market, additional important considerations are tuber appearance, including skin texture, skin color, flesh color and tuber shape. Recently, specialty potato types with different shapes, such as fingerlings; smaller sizes; and red, purple or yellow skin and flesh colors are becoming popular because of their convenience in cooking and increased nutritional value.Potato tuber shape is less important for industrial purposes than it is for human consumption, Vales said. Potato tubers with external deformities caused by heat or drought stress or other factors can be re-directed to myriad uses, including food for dogs and cattle. In addition, potato starch can produce ethanol for fuel or in beverages like vodka; a biodegradable substitute for plastics; or adhesives, binders, texture agents and fillers for the pharmaceutical, textile, wood and paper industries, and other sectors.
For industrial applications, the amount and type of starch in a potato are important considerations. Toinga said starches higher in amylopectin are desirable for processed food and other industrial applications due o their unique functional properties. For example, such starches are the preferred form for use as a stabilizer and thickener in food products and as an emulsifier in salad dressings. Because of its freeze-thaw stability, amylopectin starch is used in frozen foods. Additionally, potatoes rich in amylopectin starch yield higher ethanol levels compared to those with other starches.

Developing potato cultivars with modified starch could open new opportunities, Toinga said. Potatoes with high amylopectin and low amylose, like the gene-edited Yukon Gold strain she described in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, have industrial applications beyond traditional uses.
In contrast, potatoes with high amylose levels and low amylopectin would be desirable for human consumption, Vales said. The amylose acts like fiber and does not liberate glucose as easily as amylopectin, thus resulting in a lower glycemic index and making potatoes more acceptable for people with diabetes.

CRISPR/Cas9 technology has expanded the toolset available to breeders, Vales said, and it represents a more direct, faster means to incorporate desired traits into popular commercial crop varieties. Conventional breeding is a lengthy process that can take 10-15 years.
In addition, she said, due to the complex nature of the potato genome, generating new cultivars with the right complement of desirable traits is challenging for conventional breeding. Molecular breeding has enhanced breeding efficiencies, and gene-editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology adds another level of sophistication.
“We utilized the Agrobacterium method to deliver the CRISPR reagents into potatoes because it is reliable, efficient and least expensive compared to all other delivery methods,” Rathore said.
In the first study, highlighted in the Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture article, a potato line containing four copies of gfp, a jellyfish gene that allows a fluorescence-based visualization of the gene’s activity, was targeted for mutation using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, Toinga said.
In essence, this project provided an easy-to-see trait that enabled researchers to optimize the methodology. “Loss of the characteristic green fluorescence and sequencing of the gfp gene following CRISPR treatment indicated that it is possible to disrupt all four copies of the gfp gene, thus confirming that it should be possible to mutate all four alleles of a native gene in the tetraploid potato,” Rathore said.

Among the various potato cultivars evaluated in the first study, the Yukon Gold strain regenerated the best, and so it was used for the second study. In the second knockout study, described in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, the native gene gbss in the tetraploid Yukon Gold strain was targeted to effectively eliminate amylose. The result was a potato with starch rich in amylopectin and low in amylose.
“One of the knockout events, T2-7, showed normal growth and yield characteristics but was completely devoid of amylose,” Toinga said. That tuber starch, T2-7, could find industrial applications in the paper and textile sectors as adhesives/binders, bioplastics and ethanol industries. Tuber starch from this experimental strain, because of its freeze-thaw stability without the need for chemical modifications, should also be useful in producing frozen foods. Potatoes with amylopectin as the exclusive form of starch should also yield more ethanol for industrial use or to create alcoholic beverages.
As the next step for these studies, the T2-7 strain has been self-pollinated and crossed with the Yukon Gold strain donor and other potato clones to eliminate the transgenic elements.

Source: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/9/4640

May 12^th 2022

ADM continues evolution of carbohydrate solutions business with significant expansion of starch production in Marshall, Minnesota.

Food commodities giant ADM will invest substantially in expanding its starch production facility in the US to meet the rising demand from F&B sectors and industrial customers for plant-based ingredients. The Minnesota-based project is expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2023.

The envisioned capacity will propel the company’s BioSolutions platform and grow its carbohydrates solutions business. BioSolutions delivered US$100 million in annualized revenue in 2021 with a continued swift expansion of US$55 million in new sales growth in 2022, according to ADM.

The financial details of the current investment have not been released.

“Three years ago, we announced that we would be phasing out production of high-fructose corn syrup at Marshall and expanding starch production to support increasing demand for products like sustainable packaging,” says Chris Cuddy, president, carbohydrate solutions business, ADM.

“In the short time since then, demand has continued to expand, both for food and beverage customers and the broad array of plant-based products that make up our fast-growing BioSolutions platform,” he highlights.

“This significant capacity expansion will help ensure we can continue to meet our customers’ needs across this broad portfolio.”

ADM’s BioSolutions platform focuses on meeting the demand for more sustainable products and solutions across various applications, including F&B, packaging and personal care.

Finite materials and the production of physical waste are a big concern for consumers. A key R&D focus of the platform is plant-based materials and processing practices that reduce waste and energy use from development to disposal.

“We’re continuing to expand the frontier of what is possible to meet the demand for sustainable, plant-based products and solutions,” Cuddy continues.

“From our bioplastics agreement with LG Chem to our work with NET Power and 8 Rivers to build a zero-emissions power plant in Decatur, to our advancement of the decarbonization of our footprint, we’re powering growth and living our purpose with the continued evolution of our carbohydrates solutions business,” he outlines.

Source: https://www.adm.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2022/5/adm-continues-evolution-of-carbohydrate-solutions-business-with-significant-expansion-of-starch-production-in-marshall-minnesota/

April 30^th 2022

Hybrid electro-biosystem upcycles carbon dioxide into energy-rich long-chain compounds.

Artificial upcycling of carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added products in a sustainable manner represents an opportunity to tackle environmental issues and realize a circular economy.

However, compared with facilely available C1/C2 products, efficient and sustainable synthesis of energy-rich long-chain compounds from CO2 still remains a huge challenge.

A joint research team led by Prof. XIA Chuan from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Prof. YU Tao from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Prof. ZENG Jie from the University of Science and Technology of China, has developed a hybrid electro-biosystem, coupling spatially separate CO2 electrolysis with yeast fermentation, which efficiently converted CO2 to glucose.

The results were published in Nature Catalysis on April 28.

The proposed spatially decoupled electro-biosystem includes CO2 electrolysis and yeast fermentation. It can convert CO2 to glucose or fatty acids with both high titer and high yield.

“Acetic acid is not only the main component of vinegar, but also one of the excellent biosynthetic carbon sources. It can be transformed into other substances in life, such as glucose. Acetic acid can be obtained by direct electrolysis of CO2, but with ultra-low efficiency. We thus propose a two-step strategy to convert CO2 into acetic acid, with CO as the intermediate,” said Prof. ZENG.

Accordingly, the researchers first converted CO2 into CO in a membrane electrode assembly using a Ni–N–C single-atom catalyst, and then developed a grain-boundary-rich Cu (GB_Cu) catalyst for acetate production from electrochemical CO reduction.

GB_Cu exhibited a high acetate Faradaic efficiency up to 52% at -0.67 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode in a typical three-electrode flow cell reactor using 1.0 M KOH aqueous electrolyte.

“However, the acetate produced by conventional electrocatalytic devices is always mixed with electrolyte salts which cannot be directly used for biological fermentation,” said Prof. XIA.

To tackle this challenge, the researchers developed a porous solid electrolyte reactor equipment with thick anion exchange membranes for pure acetic acid solution separation and purification. It continuously and stably worked for 140 hours under a current density of -250 mA cm-2, which achieved an ultrapure acetic acid solution with a relative purity of ~97% wt.%.

In the following microbial fermentation, the researchers deleted all defined hexokinase genes (glk1, hxk1, hxk2, YLR446W and emi2) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to enable microbe growth on pure acetic acid and the efficient release of glucose in vitro.

The overexpression of heterologous glucose-1-phosphatase further improved the glucose titer. S. cerevisiae was fed with titrated acetate from electrolysis, obtaining an average glucose titer of 1.81 ± 0.14 g·L-1, equivalent to a high yield of 8.9 μmol per gram of yeast per hour. Similar results were observed in S. cerevisiae fed pure acetic acid.

In addition, an engineered S. cerevisiae for free fatty acids production was fed via titrating acetate from electrolysis, with a total free fatty acids (C8~C18) titer of 500 mg·L-1.

Pure and concentrated acetic acid from electrochemical CO2 reduction served as the carbon source for S. cerevisiae fermentation. Such a platform for long-chain products is promising for large-scale practical use.

“This demonstration is a starting point for realizing light-reaction-free artificial synthesis of important organic products from CO2,” said Prof. YU.

Source: https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/chem/202204/t20220429_304775.shtml

March 28^th 2022

Lantmännen introduces gluten-free wheat starch to counter effects of celiac disease.

In response to the growing number of gluten-intolerance diagnoses, Lantmännen Biorefineries has launched its gluten-free wheat starch from autumn wheat harvested in Sweden. The market for gluten-free products is also growing due to more consumers adopting a gluten-free diet for lifestyle and health reasons.

“After several years of development, we can now offer the market a gluten-free ingredient with good baking properties that do not affect the final product’s taste. In addition, it is the first Swedish alternative in this fast-growing market,” according to Lars Franzén, head of food ingredients, Lantmännen Biorefineries.

Wheat starch has many functional properties in baked goods compared to other starches. It stabilizes bread crumb structure and texture, creating a loaf of bread with an even crumb. When baking gluten-free, the stabilizing and binding function of gluten must be reached via the addition of other ingredients, for example, hydrocolloids and fibers.

Gluten-free wheat starch is a fine white powder with a neutral taste. When cooled down, it forms consistent and firm gels and contains less than 0.35% protein. It is also non-soluble in cold water and hot swelling. Lantmännen Biorefineries has launched a gluten-free wheat starch for bakery goods.

According to European directives, the product has been approved as gluten-free and will be launched initially in the Nordics and in northern Europe, where demand is very high.

The diagnosis of celiac disease (gluten intolerance) has increased significantly, affecting approximately 2% of the regional population. Gluten-free wheat starch allows bakers to create various products in the same formulations they are used to, without gluten.

Lantmännen Unibake acquired the production assets from French Bakery Company AS, a Norwegian bakery located close to Drammen, in 2020. The acquisition was a critical step in providing sustainable products and bakery solutions in Norway and meeting consumer demand for locally produced bakery products. The acquisition included the take-over of French Bakery Company’s production equipment.

Source: https://www.lantmannenreppe.com/products/gluten-free-wheat-starch/

March 24^th 2022

Study: Preparation and Properties of Pea Starch/ε-Polylysine Composite Films.

In this study, the authors examined the composite films made of ε-polylysine (PL) and pea starch (St), where St and PL were utilized as the matrix and sodium alginate and glycerol were used as the plasticizers. The composite films’ mechanical, rheological, spectroscopic, water vapor permeability (WVP) and oil permeability, thermogravimetry (TGA), microstructure, and antibacterial characteristics were investigated. The proposed five solutions of the film were made up of various pseudoplastic fluids.

The team explored the effects of blends with various proportions of St and PL on film-forming ability and microbial inhibition were explored. The apparent viscosity shear rate curves of the five composite film solutions were measured by using a rheometer. The average value of five points on a film measured with a micrometer caliper was used to calculate the thickness of each composite film. A physical property tester was used to determine the films’ tensile strength (TS) and fracture elongation (E).

The researchers used the quasi-cup method to determine the WVP of the composite films. The thermal stability of the powder samples was investigated with a thermal analyzer employing TGA and differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG). A scanning electron microscope was used to examine the morphology of the composite films. To investigate the antibacterial characteristics of the composite films, Escherichia coli (ATCC 25312), yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ATCC 204508), and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 23857) were used.

Source: Yu, Z., Gong, D., Han, C., Preparation and Properties of Pea Starch/ε-Polylysine Composite Films. Materials 15(6) 2327 (2022).

Link: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/6/2327

March 03^rd 2022

Green flexible electronics based on starch.

Abstract.

Flexible electronics (FEs) with excellent flexibility or foldability may find widespread applications in the wearable devices, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and other areas. However, the widely utilization may also bring the concerning for the fast accumulation of electronic waste. Green FEs with good degradability might supply a way to overcome this problem. Starch, as one of the most abundant natural polymers, has been exhibiting great potentials in the development of environmental-friendly FEs due to its inexpensiveness, good processability, and biodegradability. Lots of remarks were made this field but no summary was found. In this review, we discussed the preparation and applications of starch-based FEs, highlighting the role played by the starch in such FEs and the impacts on the properties. Finally, the challenge was discussed and the outlook for the further development was also presented.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41528-022-00147-x

February 08^th 2022

Inspired by the always immaculate lotus leaf, researchers have developed a self-cleaning bioplastic that is sturdy, sustainable and compostable.

Inspired by the pristine lotus leaf, Australian scientists have engineered a quickly biodegradable yet self-cleaning plastic they say is ideal for packaging fresh and takeaway foods.

If successfully commercialised, the wholly compostable product would help reduce the almost 80 per cent of plastic waste left to accumulate as landfill or sloughed off as a litter.

Like the foliage of the Nelumbo nucifera blossom, the synthetically-engineered substance repels liquids and dirt, making it suitable to meet hygiene standards.

Once discarded, it then breaks down rapidly in the soil.

Lead author of the RMIT University project, PhD candidate Mehran Ghasemlou, says the bioplastic was created with mass production in mind.

“Plastic waste is one of our biggest environmental challenges but the alternatives we develop need to be both eco-friendly and cost-effective to have a chance of widespread use,” he said.

“We designed this new bioplastic with large-scale fabrication in mind, ensuring it was simple to make and could easily be integrated with industrial manufacturing processes.”

Although strong, the product is made from cheap and widely-available starch and cellulose to keep production costs low and support biodegradability.

Unlike other compostable plastics, its fabrication doesn’t require heating or industrial processing and would be simple to upscale to a roll-to-roll production line, Mr Ghasemlou says.

Neither does the new plastic need industrial intervention to biodegrade, with trials showing it breaks down naturally and quickly once exposed to bacteria and bugs in the soil.

“Our ultimate aim is to deliver packaging that could be added to backyard compost or thrown into a green bin alongside other organic waste,” Mr Ghasemlou said.

“The food waste can be composted together with the container it came in, to help prevent … contamination of recycling.”

Lotus leaves are known to have some of the most water-repellent surfaces on Earth and are almost impossible to get dirty.

The secret lies in the leaf’s surface structure, which is composed of tiny pillars topped with a waxy layer.

Water that lands on the leaf remains as droplets that roll off with the help of gravity or wind. They also sweep up dirt as they slide.

To emulate the effect, the RMIT team imprinted the surface of the plastic with a pattern that mimics the structure and coated with it a protective layer of PDMS, a silicon-based organic polymer.

Tests show it not only repels liquids and dirt effectively, it retains its self-cleaning properties after being scratched with abrasives and exposed to heat, acid and ethanol.

Co-author of the research Professor Benu Adhikari says the design overcomes the key challenges of starch-based materials.

“Starch is one of the most promising and versatile natural polymers but it is relatively fragile and highly susceptible to moisture,” he said.

“Through our bio-inspired engineering that mimics the ‘lotus effect’, we have delivered a highly-effective starch-based biodegradable plastic.”

Source: https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2022/feb/self-cleaning-bioplastic

February 02^nd 2022

Łódź scientists create revolutionary ‘heavy-duty’ biodegradable materials from modified starch.

Scientists from Łódź have solved a ‘long-standing problem’ after engineering an innovative new biodegradable, heavy-duty foil made from modified starch.

Although the use of starch in recycled materials is not new, previous attempts to apply it created materials that were weak and susceptible to tears.

But now the revolutionary development means that for the first time a starch material that is both biodegradable and durable can be used in the form of a thin foil for the production of bags, sachets and foil packaging for foodstuffs or cosmetics packed on trays.

It can also be used to make disposable single use trays and plates.

Team leader Professor Grażyna Budryn from the Łódź University of Technology said: “We were able, to a substantial degree, to overcome the defects thanks to the addition of an extra ingredient to the starch, an organic acid present in many grains, which in this case cause the cross-linking of the starch.

“This leads to a reduction in water absorption, gas permeability and tearing susceptibility of the foil modified in this way.”

In addition, the material also possesses anti-microbial properties, obtained through the addition of a natural substance, a chicory root extract.

The team are now working on an additional hydrophobic layer for their biodegradable foil which will make it useful also as a packaging for moist products.

Professor Budryn said: “The hydrophilic nature of the foil ensures that it can be easily and quickly biodegraded, however the applications of such a foil for the packaging of moist products is limited.

“Here natural hydrophobic layers based on lipids, can be useful…We plan to develop a variant of the foil with a hydrophobic layer, which will also be biodegradable.”

The team also included Professor Agnieszka Nowak and Dr Andrzej Jaśkiewicz.

Source: https://p.lodz.pl/en/about-tul/news/patent-biodegradable-foil-lodz-university-technology

January 31^st 2022

Plantcarb, spin out, start up for starch with 100% amylose.

Plantcarb ApS is a plant biotechnological spin out from Aarhus University and University of Copenhagen established by (among others) two scientists who – as the only ones in the world – have developed a method for producing agricultural crops whose starch consists of 100% amylose. Starch is composed of two kinds of molecules. One type branches off and is called amylopectin (~ 75%). The other does not branch out and is called amylose. The two forms have very different properties. Unlike amylopectin, amylose does not dissolve in the stomach for sugar. Amylose therefore prevents type-2 diabetes. And unlike amylopectin, amylose is an excellent raw material for compostable bioplastics. Plantcarb focuses on both food and industry. For food, a 100% amylose crop (HIAMBA®) is developed to be used for flour for bread. For industrial use, a variant of 100% amylose maize is bred.

See also: https://plantcarb.com/#home .

Source: https://international.au.dk/collaboration/technology-transfer/spin-outs/plantcarb

December 20^th 2021

How starch makes its way through your body and its effect on health.

Starch digestion is a complex process that begins in the mouth and ends in the guts, all the while releasing glucose that provides energy for all tissues and organs and nutrients for vital gut bacteria.
Starch, known in some circles as a controversial carb, is often labelled as either good or bad. It turns out, the way starch is digested determines its nutritional qualities and its effect on our health.

The importance of starch to humans dates back to the Palaeolithic era. Researchers believe starchy foods from roots and tubers might have had a crucial role in the evolution of modern humans (Homo sapiens) from their early hominin ancestors.

Around one million years ago, humans began to consume starchy plant foods regularly, possibly thanks to the discovery of the cooking process. Around the same time, genetic variation equipped humans with multiple copies of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1), which initiates the digestion of starch in the mouth.

University of Sydney researchers hypothesis that the increased availability of dietary starch led to an expansion of the human brain.

Today, starch is found in many staple foods and is the main glycaemic (glucose-releasing) carbohydrate in human diets, contributing to 50 to 70% of dietary energy.

Raw starch is poorly digested.

“We need to cook our food to be able to eat it,” said Professor Emeritus Les Copeland AM, an agricultural chemist who has studied starch for 40 years at the University of Sydney.

The application of heat and absorption of water disrupts, at least partially, the starch structure, making it more digestible. But not all starch is digested the same way.

Starch is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose molecules joined by glycosidic bonds. Some starch molecules are linear, and others have a more complex, tree-like structure.

The way these two are combined makes some starches less digestible than others, so they take longer to go through the body.

Rapidly digested starch (RDS) is found in highly processed foods such as many breakfast cereals and white bread. It’s digested chiefly within 20 to 30 minutes, releasing glucose and setting off rapid insulin response.

“Over time, exposing yourself to this sort of rapid release of glucose increases the risk of health issues such as diabetes and obesity,” Emeritus Professor Copeland said.

Foods can contain either rapidly digested starch (RDS) or slowly digested starch (SDS).

That does not mean we should be avoiding RDS altogether.

Glucose is an essential energy source for all tissues, especially the brain, kidneys, red blood cells and reproductive tissues. The brain alone uses about 25% of the total energy expenditure even though it accounts for less than 10% of body weight.

Glucose is also the primary energy source for foetal growth, and higher starch intake during pregnancy and nursing is essential.

Slowly digested starch (SDS) takes longer to break down and moves from the stomach to the small intestine, largely intact. This type of starch is found in whole grains, legumes and starchy nuts.

SDS digestion results in a slower release of glucose and consequently a moderated insulin response. Also, emerging evidence suggests that remnants of SDS that reach the ileum – the junction between the small intestine and the colon – trigger the release of hormones that make us feel fuller.

Emeritus Professor Copeland, who in 2020 received the F B Guthrie Grain Science Medal, which recognises outstanding scientific achievement and contribution to knowledge in the field of grain science, said an active area of research focuses on resistant starch.

This is found in starchy raw food like green bananas, some nuts and seeds, or that has been refrigerated after cooking like potatoes.

Resistant starch granules are often encapsulated into bulky structural material, which renders them hardly digestible.

Researchers have discovered that resistant starch has a vital role in human health because it reaches the colon – the last section of our intestine – and becomes food for gut bacteria.

“The gut has a colony made up of thousands of different species of bacteria that work in a collaborative way to break down resistant starch and draw nutriment from it,” said Emeritus Professor Copeland.

“They grow and proliferate. The health and richness of this community of bacteria are vital, and when that balance is lost, that is associated with illness.”

Emeritus Professor Copeland said what we eat has a profound effect on our health, but “if something is good for you, it doesn’t mean that more is better for you”.

Instead, he said it is crucial to find balance in our diet of different foods that contribute to body health and functions.

“We eat meals, not food.”

Source: https://www.sydney.edu.au/science/news-and-events/2021/12/20/nutritional-qualities-of-starch-depend-on-the-way-it-is-digested.html

December 16^th 2021

Healthier tapioca starch is on the way.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have recently created a healthier form of starch in the cassava plant. Published in the scientiêc journal Plant Molecular Biology, the study shows how reducing levels of starch branching enzymes (SBEs) in cassava plants changes the composition of tapioca starch, making it more resistant to digestion and healthier for us to eat. Most of the starch we eat comes from cereal crops like rice, corn, and wheat or tuber crops like potato and cassava. Starch contains two molecules—amylose and amylopectin. The diéerence between them is that amylose is a straight chain of glucose molecules connected end to end, while in amylopectin the chains branch out like a tree. The crops we eat diéer in their relative amounts of amylose and amylopectin. For example, rice starch contains about 35% amylose (65% amylopectin), while cassava starch, commonly called tapioca, contains only about 17% amylose (82% amylopectin). Normal starch that includes branching amylopectin is easily digested by enzymes in saliva. That sounds good, but actually amylose and lessbranched amylopectin are healthier because their structures can resist digestion. Instead of giving us unhealthy blood sugar spikes, resistant starch travels to our gut where it becomes food for all the good bacteria that live there and keep us healthy.

The RIKEN CSRS team focused on the cassava plant because it is often overlooked, even though it is one of most import crops in tropical and subtropical regions. “By suppressing multiple genes one by one, we were able to increase the amount of resistant tapioca by about 63%.” says lead researcher Yoshinori Utsumi. “Not only will this starch improve intestinal function, but it will also improve blood sugar and insulin responsiveness.”

Resistant starch has two characteristics. The êrst is amylopectin with fewer branches and longer chains, making is harder to digest. The second is a lower percentage of amylopectin overall. To generate resistant starch, the researchers focused on the enzyme that helps create the branches in amylopectin. To create a branch, one chain of amylose must attach to the middle of another chain of amylose. Creating this bond requires starch branching enzymes (SBEs). The team reasoned that reducing this enzyme’s activity would be a way to generate resistant starch. Therefore, the êrst step was to identify the SBE genes in the cassava genome. Analysis revealed three SBE genes, with a few subtypes. SBE1 and SBE2a appear to be involved in making amylopectin in cassava leaves and roots, while SBE2c is only in the roots.

Next, the researchers created several lines of transgenic cassava to compare with unmodiêed wildtype cassava. The most successful transgenic lines were those in which both SBE1 and SBE2 expression were reduced to about 10% of wildtype expression. Looking at the factors that increase starch resistance, the researchers found that although wildtype cassava contained about 17% amylose, the roots of two transgenic lines in which both SBE1 and SBE2 were reduced contained about 40% amylose. These lines also produced root amylopectin with fewer branches and longer chains. Overall, the percent of resistant tapioca starch rose from 0.4% to about 25%, a whopping increase of about 6300%, although the total amount of starch did decrease a little.

“In addition to advancing cassava molecular breeding, we hope that our êndings will lead to more functional foods that improve human health,” says Utsumi. “Now that we have identiêed the cassava genes for molecularly more resistant starch, the next step will be to verify the eéectiveness of these plants and the tapioca starch they produce.”

Reference: Utsumi et al (2021) Suppressed expression of starch branching enzyme 1 and 2 increases resistant starch and amylose content and modiêes amylopectin structure in cassava. Plant Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/s11103-021-01209-w

Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-12-healthier-tapioca-starch.html

December 15^th 2021

Natural titanium dioxide substitute: wheat starch component improves the appearance of pet food.

Declaration-friendly alternative from Trigea offers high levels of whiteness and functionality.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) no longer considers the white pigment titanium dioxide (E 171) to be a safe additive in animal feed.1 Trigovit® Starch 1104 ND native small-grain starch has a naturally high degree of whiteness and visually brightens various pet food applications. This starch component from Trigea, a specialist in wheat-based functional ingredients, is not chemically modified, is completely harmless to health and has no E number.

Trigovit® Starch has a whiteness (brightness) of 98.17 on the scale of 0 (black) to 100 (white). In pet food applications, it provides a clear brightening effect and, in snack applications for example, can be used to create offset optical highlights. Now that EFSA’s assessment has already led to a ban on titanium dioxide as a food additive from next year, a similar decision is expected for feed production. For manufacturers who now want to reformulate their products, Trigea offers a natural alternative as well as advice and targeted assistance.

Trigovit® Starch is a native wheat starch produced by physical separation. The size of the starch granules is very small (less than 10 μm), so that ten times more particles are contained in the same volume compared with conventional corn or wheat starch. The starch distributes homogenously in the end product without sedimenting. It is also free-flowing and dispersible, neutral in taste and easily digestible.

Maximilian Hegge, Sales Manager at Trigea, comments: “Demand for a natural substitute for titanium dioxide has increased enormously since the EFSA notification and the ban in the food sector. We frequently encounter this topic at trade fairs and customer meetings. With our native wheat starch, we help manufacturers to prepare for potential changes in the law and ensure that they can make their product as visually appealing as before — with a natural, renewable raw material.”

Source: Source: https://crespeldeitersgroup.com/news/natuerlicher-titandioxid-ersatz/

December 03^rd 2021

AKFP introduces waxy potato starches for North American food industry.

American Key Food Products now offers native waxy potato starch and pregelatinized native waxy potato starch to the North American food industry. Made in Germany by the Emsland Group, both starches are over 99% amylopectin and may be used in applications such as fruit ållings, baked foods, soups and sauces, salad dressings, condiments, snacks and meat alternatives.

The native waxy potato starch is a cook-up starch. The pregelatinized native waxy potato starch is a cold-swelling pregelatinized starch. Both are high-viscosity starches. They have a neutral flavor profile. The high-gelatinization levels bring about expansion, creaminess, smoothness and mouthfeel, according to Closter-based AKFP. They are used in binding and thickening, imparting a shiny, clear appearance, new textures, high viscosity and extended shelf life.

“This high level of amylopectin is achieved by the breeding of a potato variety specially for this
purpose, using traditional techniques, not genetic modification,” said Ivan Sarda, president of AKFP. “These native starches offer excellent performance characteristics with the added beneåt of being non-GMO, gluten-free and clean-label friendly. Such innovative starches are a natural addition to our portfolio of ingredients that support the better-for-you lifestyle choices many consumers seek today.”

Source: https://innovationsfood.com/akfp-introduces-waxy-potato-starches-high-amylopectin-gluten-free-and-non-gmo/

November 29^th 2021

DSM to acquire Vestkorn Milling to accelerate growth in plant-based proteins.

Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, announces today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Norwegian company Vestkorn Milling, one of Europe’s leading producers of pea- and bean-derived ingredients for plant-based protein products, for an enterprise value of €65m.

Vestkorn Milling is well-positioned in the buoyant alternative protein market, supplying proteins, starches and dietary fibers for plant-based foods, pet food and animal feed. The company has 55 employees and is based in Tau on the south-west coast of Norway.

Patrick Niels, Executive Vice President of DSM’s Food & Beverage division, commented on the acquisition: “We very much look forward to welcoming Vestkorn Milling and their team to DSM. Increasingly, food and beverage producers around the world are looking to partners who can offer an integrated portfolio of ingredients, expertise, and solutions to help them differentiate and get to market fast. This is especially important in the highly dynamic meat alternatives space, where consumer and societal expectations around authentic taste, texture, and nutritional profile, as well as climate impact, are becoming more and more sophisticated.”

Aslak Lie, CEO of Vestkorn Milling, added: “Through the cooperation with DSM we have taken a huge step towards becoming a global leader of pulse-based ingredients. Over the past years we have significantly expanded our business and market. With DSM, we have got a long-term oriented owner that will fuel further growth and expansion. We are thrilled by this opportunity, and we look forward to being a part of the DSM team.”

The acquisition is a further step in DSM’s strategy to build an alternative protein business and will provide synergy with DSM’s innovative CanolaPRO™ rapeseed protein isolate, which will commercially launch next year.

Vestkorn Milling’s proteins, starches and dietary fibers are highly complementary to DSM’s broad offering to companies developing plant-based food and beverages, which includes vitamins, algal lipids and minerals to improve nutritional value; texturizing hydrocolloids; and flavors and yeast extracts as well as enzymes to improve protein taste and functionality.

The combination will furthermore help DSM deliver on its Food System Commitments to reach 150 million people with delicious, nutritious and sustainable plant-based protein foods by 2030.

Subject to customary conditions, the transaction is expected to close in Q4 2021.

Source: https://www.dsm.com/corporate/news/news-archive/2021/36-21-dsm-to-acquire-vestkorn-milling-to-accelerate-growth-in-plant-based-proteins.html

November 24^th 2021

Royal Avebe performance price at 93.30 euro.

Royal Avebe today announced its performance price of 93.30 euro for the 2020/2021 financial year. The growing acreage of starch potatoes, especially outside the Netherlands, led to pressure on the prices of native starch this year. Rising costs caused by the corona crisis also depressed the performance price. This performance price is partly due to the strategic direction following two years in which the performance price benefited from a lower market supply and therefore higher prices for native starch.

Growing year 2020 was marked by better growing conditions for starch potatoes compared to previous years. This was also the case in other European countries, where the acreage of starch potatoes also increased considerably. This higher market supply exerted downward pressure on prices for native potato starch and protein for animal feed. This ultimately resulted in a performance price of 93.30 euro. The performance price is the Cooperative’s key financial indicator. It combines the cooperative result and the potato revenues. The cooperative result totals 9.2 million euros.

Avebe’s strategy is to create more value through innovative products rather than bulk products. In recent years, the demand for innovative, vegetable-based products has increased, and Avebe’s potato starch and protein products play a vital role in this. This is illustrated by replacing animal protein with vegetable potato protein in dairy products while retaining the same nutritional and functional value. The capacity for vegetable protein has expanded considerably in recent years. Avebe invested heavily in innovation and sustainability in the financial year 2020/2021. This included planned investments that had been postponed in the previous fiscal year due to COVID-19.

The coronavirus once again caused many uncertainties. The number of infections among employees rose. There was also reduced availability of transport and containers to get products from A to B. Despite that, we managed to get all the products to our customers, sometimes with some delays. The cooperative was also faced with rising costs of transport, energy, raw materials and packaging materials. David Fousert, new chairman of the board of Royal Avebe: “Our members are also facing substantial cost increases to grow starch potatoes. It is therefore imperative that we, as Avebe, remain on track to continuously increase the performance price. And we do this through our strategy for high-quality products. Despite the impact of the corona crisis and market conditions, we are still on track to achieve our strategic goals including a 100 euro performance price by the financial year 2024/2025,” said David Fousert.

Source: https://www.avebe.com/news/royal-avebe-performance-price-at-93-30-euro/

November 06^th 2021

Chinese company picks Grand Forks North Dakota for manufacturing plant.

The Chinese company Fufeng has chosen Grand Forks (ND) as the site of a manufacturing facility that city officials said Saturday could be the largest private sector investment in the community’s history.

Fufeng Group Ltd. picked an approximately 370 acre (150 hectare) site in Grand Forks’ agri-business park. The facility is expected to initially require 25 million bushels of corn annually, the city’s announcement said,

The announcement did not give the size of the investment or specify which products will be made there. Fufeng makes products for the animal nutrition, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, health and wellness, oil and gas, and other industries. It’s a leading producer of xanthan gum. This will be its first U.S.-based manufacturing facility, the city said.

“Adding value to our corn and other raw commodities is critical to North Dakota’s long-term economic success, and this value-added project represents a huge opportunity for producers and workers in the Grand Forks area and our entire state,” Gov. Doug Burgum said in a statement.

Construction is expected to employ up to 1,000 workers for up to three years, said Keith Lund, president and CEO of the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation. “Once operational we anticipate 233 direct jobs and 525 indirect jobs will be created, for a total of over 750 new jobs in our region,” he said.

Fufeng officials are planning to visit Grand Forks later this month to meet with state and local leaders to continue the due diligence process and work toward finalizing a development agreement.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/business-north-dakota-grand-forks-fufeng-group-ltd-0c56dbdae6f35b999674b78410463562

September 23^rd 2021

Cell-free chemoenzymatic starch synthesis from carbon dioxide.

Chinese scientists recently reported a de novo route for artificial starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first time. Relevant results are published in Science on Sept. 24.

The new route makes it possible to shift the mode of starch production from traditional agricultural planting to industrial manufacturing, and opens up a new technical route for synthesizing complex molecules from CO2.

Starch is the major component of grain as well as an important industrial raw material. At present, it is mainly produced by crops such as maize by fixing CO2 through photosynthesis. This process involves about 60 biochemical reactions as well as complex physiological regulation. The theoretical energy conversion efficiency of this process is only about 2%.

Strategies for the sustainable supply of starch and use of CO2 are urgently needed to overcome major challenges of mankind, such as the food crisis and climate change. Designing novel routes other than plant photosynthesis for converting CO2 to starch is an important and innovative S&T mission and will be a significant disruptive technology in today’s world.

To address this issue, scientists at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (TIB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) designed a chemoenzymatic system as well as an artificial starch anabolic route consisting of only 11 core reactions to convert CO2 into starch.

This route was established by a “building block” strategy, in which the researchers integrated chemical and biological catalytic modules to utilize high-density energy and high-concentration CO2 in a biotechnologically innovative way.

The researchers systematically optimized this hybrid system using spatial and temporal segregation by addressing issues such as substrate competition, product inhibition, and thermodynamical adaptation.

The artificial route can produce starch from CO2 with an efficiency 8.5-fold higher than starch biosynthesis in maize, suggesting a big step towards going beyond nature. It provides a new scientific basis for creating biological systems with unprecedented functions.

“According to the current technical parameters, the annual production of starch in a one-cubic-meter bioreactor theoretically equates with the starch annual yield from growing 1/3 hectare of maize without considering the energy input,” said Cai Tao, lead author of the study.

This work would open a window for industrial manufacturing of starch from CO2.

“If the overall cost of the process can be reduced to a level economically comparable with agricultural planting in the future, it is expected to save more than 90% of cultivated land and freshwater resources,” said MA Yanhe, corresponding author of the study.

In addition, it would also help to avoid the negative environmental impact of using pesticides and fertilizers, improve human food security, facilitate a carbon-neutral bioeconomy, and eventually promote the formation of a sustainable bio-based society.

TIB has focused on artificial starch biosynthesis and CO2 utilization since 2015. To carry out such demand-oriented S&T research, all kinds of resources for innovation have been gathered together and the integration of “discipline, task and platform” has been strengthened to achieve efficient coordination of research efforts.

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh4049

September 17^th 2021

Agrana announces €25m investment in Austrian plant capacity.

Austrian food company Agrana has announced a €25 million investment in additional capacity at its three starch factories.

The Agrana plant in Gmünd began receiving deliveries of starch potatoes last month, while wet corn processing has been underway in Aschach/Donau and Pischeldorf since 15 September.

Agrana’s plant in Gmünd is Austria’s only potato starch factory and the current investment for the existing site stands at €12 million to expand its drying facilities. The investment involves building a spraying tower – a drying plant for infant formula, maltodextrin and dried glucose syrup – in addition to installing a drum-drying plant for dehydrated potato products.
The starch potato campaign in Gmünd is estimated to last around 130 days, with completion in early January. Approximately 250,000 metric tons have been contracted for this coming season.

Agrana is currently investing around €13 million at its Aschach site to expand its capacity for processing special corn varieties. A total of around 500,000 metric tons of corn – with the gradual introduction of more special corn varieties such as waxy and organic corn – are processed annually at the Aschach plant.

Source: https://www.agrana.com/en/pr/all-press-releases/news-detail/campaign-start-processing-at-starch-factories-well-underway

September 15^th 2021

France’s Tereos to sell Chinese starch business to Wilmar’s YKA.

French sugar group Tereos is selling its minority stake in two Chinese starch joint ventures to Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings (YKA), the Chinese subsidiary of Singapore’s Wilmar International, the group said on Wednesday.

French sugar group Tereos is selling its minority stake in two Chinese starch joint ventures to Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings 300999.SZ (YKA), the Chinese subsidiary of Singapore’s Wilmar International WLIL.SI, the group said on Wednesday.

It has been reported in June that Tereos, the world’s second largest sugar maker in volume, was in advanced talks with Wilmar to sell its minority stake in their joint activities as part of a wider shift in strategy after a change in top management late last year.

“Tereos cooperative group announced its intent to refocus on its three main activities and reduce its debt,” Tereos said in a statement.

“In this context, Tereos announces that it is divesting its 49% stakes in two Chinese starch joint ventures initiated in 2012 and 2013 to its joint venture partner, the YKA Group,” it added.

Tereos has activities in sugar, alcohol and starch markets. It is one of the largest producers of ethanol in Brazil.

A company spokesperson declined to give financial details of the agreement.

The transaction with YKA Group is subject to antitrust authorities’ approval, Tereos said.

Tereos reported a debt of 2.7 billion euros ($3.2 billion) at the end of June, for annual sales of around 4.3 billion euros.

Source: https://tereos.com/en/our-news/

August 31^st 2021

Increasing sugar availability for oil synthesis.

A team from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has bred a plant that produces more oil by manipulating the availability of sugar for oil synthesis. The team, led by BNL’s John Shanklin, achieved these results in using leaves of the fast-growing plant Arabidopsis, to mimic stem cells of plants like energycane and Miscanthus.

The work is part of a University of Illinois-led biosystems design project called Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane (ROGUE) to engineer two of the most productive American biomass crops—energycane and Miscanthus—to accumulate an abundant and sustainable supply of oil that can be used to produce biodiesel, biojet fuel, and bioproducts.

The current project, “Mobilizing vacuolar sugar increases vegetative triacylglycerol accumulation,” builds on earlier work the Shanklin group published in 2017. That work showed that simultaneously impairing the export of sugar from leaves while blocking starch synthesis diverts sugars produced by photosynthesis towards fatty acid and oil synthesis.

“The novel aspect of this work was to minimize sugar accumulation in a large cellular storage compartment called the vacuole,” said Sanket Anaokar, a research associate at BNL. “Our approach was to block sugar movement into the vacuole and maximize its export. When these genetic manipulations were made to plants that are also blocked in starch synthesis, the cell channeled the extra sugar into oil.”

Anaokar went on to explain that an unexpected benefit of the approach the group took was that some of the remobilized sugar lessened the growth delays usually seen when the amount of exported sugar from the leaves and starches is decreased. The group will take what they’ve learned in their work with Arabidopsis and share it with other ROGUE researchers, speeding up the innovation cycle.

“It is far more difficult and time consuming to make multiple gene manipulations in energycane, whereas with Arabidopsis we can rapidly develop and test different genetic and molecular biology modifications to identify the most effective combinations,” said Shanklin, BNL Biology Department Chair and ROGUE researcher. “Once we validate an approach using our model system, we can move that knowledge over to fellow ROGUE researchers to deploy in the slowergrowing biomass crop plants.”

Shanklin’s research is just one of the ways ROGUE is working to increase the availability of sustainable biofuels and reduce the use of petrochemicals. “This proof of concept in the model plant Arabidopsis now shows us this is well worth moving into energycane and Miscanthus as a key step in making these viable sources of large amounts of oil for conversion into biodiesel and biojet fuel,” said ROGUE Director Stephen Long, Ikenberry Endowed University Chair of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at Illinois’ Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.708902/full

August 24^th 2021

First CRISPR-edited wheat grown in Europe to be planted this autumn.

UK research institute Rothamsted Research, a pioneer of GM crop trials since the 1990s, has been granted permission by Defra to run a series of field trials of wheat that has been genome edited.

The Hertfordshire-based experiments will be the first field trials of CRISPR edited wheat anywhere in the UK or Europe.

The wheat has been edited to reduce levels of the naturally occurring amino acid, asparagine, which is converted to the carcinogenic processing contaminant, acrylamide, when bread is baked or toasted.

The ultimate aim of the project is to produce ultra-low asparagine, non-GM wheat, says project leader Professor Nigel Halford.

“Acrylamide has been a very serious problem for food manufacturers since being discovered in food in 2002. It causes cancer in rodents and is considered ‘probably carcinogenic’ for humans. It occurs in bread and increases substantially when the bread is toasted, but is also present in other wheat products and many crop-derived foods that are fried, baked, roasted or toasted, including crisps and other snacks, chips, roast potatoes and coffee.

“We believe that asparagine levels can be reduced substantially in wheat without compromising grain quality. This would benefit consumers by reducing their exposure to acrylamide from their diet, and food businesses by enabling them to comply with regulations on the presence of acrylamide in their products.

“That is a long-term goal, however, and this project aims to assess the performance of the wheat plants in the field and measure the concentration of asparagine in the grain produced under field conditions.”

During development in the lab, researchers ‘knocked out’ the asparagine synthetase gene, TaASN2.

Asparagine concentrations in the grain of the edited plants were substantially reduced compared with un-edited plants, with one line showing a more than 90 % reduction, according to project scientist Dr Sarah Raffan.

“This new trial will now measure the amount of asparagine in the grain of the same wheat when grown in the field, and assess other aspects of the wheat’s performance, such as yield and protein content.”

The plan is for a project of up to five years, ending in 2026, with plants being sown in September/October each year and harvested the following September. Funding is in place for the first year, and additional support is being sought for the subsequent years.

The edited plants will be grown alongside wheat in which asparagine synthesis has been affected using the ‘old-fashioned’ method of chemically-induced mutation.

This technique has been widely used in plant breeding since the mid-20th century but is not targetable in the way that CRISPR is and results in random mutations throughout the genome.

In contrast, CRISPR makes small changes to a target gene, in this case to knock that gene out so that a functional protein is no longer made from it. The process initially involves genetic modification to introduce genes required for the CRISPR process into the plant.

Once the edit has been made the GM part can be removed from the plants by conventional plant breeding methods over a few generations. The greater numbers of plants that can be grown in the field will speed up that process, says Professor Halford.

“The larger number of plants we can have in the field trial compared with a glasshouse will make it easier to identify plants that are no longer GM. This means that the first year of the trial will have plants that are both GE and GM but by the third year of the trial we expect them to be GE only.”

Despite the differences between genome editing with CRISPR and GM, genome edited plants are currently treated in the same way as GM under EU regulations, essentially blocking the use of a technology that is gaining official approval in many other parts of the world.

The hope is that the current UK Government consultation on this issue will lead to new legislation in the UK, allowing genome edited food products, carefully regulated, to be available to consumers.

News of this new trial will likely be welcomed by the food industry, where acrylamide is classed as a processing contaminant which requires close monitoring under EU law.

Professor Halford said: “Current regulations on acrylamide include ‘benchmark levels’ for its concentration in different food types and require food businesses to monitor their products for its presence. It looks likely that these regulations will be strengthened, with the EU moving towards the introduction of maximum levels above which it would be illegal to sell a food product. Other regulatory authorities are likely to follow suit.”

Source: https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/genome-edited-wheat-field-trial-gets-go-ahead-uk-government

September 28^th 2021

A Low-Cost Instrument for Estimating the Starch Content of Cassava Roots Based on the Measurement of RF Return Loss.

Abstract.

The problem of simply and reliably estimating starch content of cassava roots in the field is addressed by the development of a low cost test instrument that measures return loss at radio frequencies using a coaxial probe. A clear relationship between starch content of cassava roots and the measured return loss of root samples at a specific frequency of 30 MHz is first verified experimentally. A prototype test instrument is then designed with goals of portability, low cost and simplicity of use. The test instrument displays starch content in 5 categories, from “low” to “high” using an array of 5 LEDs. The performance of the test instrument is experimentally verified in the field and a reliable correlation between cassava root starch content and LED indication is demonstrated.

Source: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/iccs/ and more specific https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10111197/1/Cassava%20Test%20Instrument%20-%20ISCAS%202020.pdf

July 20^th 2021

Gurgaon-based agency begins making biopolymer from corn starch.

Gurgaon-based Hello-Tech Worldwide, a expertise sourcing supplier within the discipline of plastics and packaging, has come out with a plant-based bio-compostable polymer. The biopolymer, made out of corn starch, can change single- and multiple-use plastic merchandise.
“Corn starch is the principle ingredient within the polymer, which is biodegradable. It’s 100 per cent compostable and might change plastic bottles, straws, cups, disposable cutlery and polybags,” mentioned Mukul Sareen, Director, Enterprise Improvement, Hello-Tech Worldwide.

Bio-compostable product

The bio-compostable polymer, branded as Dr. Bio, has acquired the approval of the Institute of Petrochemicals Expertise (previously Central Institute of Petrochemicals Expertise Engineering and Expertise) after checks.
“Our product, India’s first, was accredited solely after it was discovered to be compostable. Ours is the one Bureau of Indian Requirements (BIS) accredited biopolymer movie,” the Hello-Tech Worldwide official mentioned.
The agency, which shifted its headquarters to the Haryana metropolis just a few years in the past from Mumbai, has made additional progress with its product.
“We received the Central Air pollution Management Board licence to start out producing the bio-compostable polymer just a few days in the past and we’ve now begun to pitch Dr Bio to numerous clients,” Sareen advised BusinessLine in a cellphone interview.
Hello-Tech started producing bio-polymers at its plant in Ludhiana, Punjab, in 2018.

Polymer granules

The biopolymer is produced by changing the corn starch right into a granule. “We purchase starch from the mills and go in for polymerisation by way of a mixing course of. This helps us to get polymer granules the best way some petrochemical companies produce plastic granules,” Sareen mentioned.
From these granules, the Gurgaon-based agency, established in 1985, produces bottles, cups, trays, polybags and different such supplies. “Corn starch makes up 60-70 per cent of our product. We additionally use biomass to fabricate our merchandise,” he mentioned.
The biopolymer product getting the obligatory clearances from the authorities is important since India alone produces 9.46 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly. At the very least 40 per cent of this stays uncollected. The issue with these waste is a few 43 per cent is used for packaging and most are for single-use.
At the very least 60 per cent of this leads to landfills or in open environments. An actual downside with plastics is that out of each 100 kg, at the very least 40 kg will not be tapped for reuse.

Stronger than plastics

Although manufacturing prices of biopolymer are greater, it may be offset by producing supplies which have decrease micron ranges than conventional plastic merchandise. “Biopolymers are 2.5 instances costlier than plastic merchandise however the place it could rating is that you simply can’t produce a plastic bag lower than 50 microns. Alternatively, we will produce a biopolymer bag of 20 microns,” he mentioned.
Although the micron stage is decrease, these biopolymers are stronger than the plastic baggage. “A 50 micron typical polybag manufactured from plastic can usually maintain merchandise as much as two kg. Our biopolymer baggage can maintain merchandise as much as 5 kg,” Sareen mentioned.
Hello-Tech Worldwide’s hope for a superb response to its product additionally stems from the brand new legislation that the Centre is planning to provide you with towards elevating the micron stage to 120. “This can make our product extra aggressive towards the plastic merchandise,” he mentioned.
The corporate has commercially launched Dr Bio and a few clients have accepted it. “We’re additionally exporting the biopolymers to Europe, the US, South America and South Africa. Now we have began pitching our product to e-commerce companies too and thus far, we’ve received good traction,” he mentioned.
Hello-Tech, which is a privately held agency, is now trying to produce comparable biopolymers from potato and tapioca, that are starch supplies.

Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/hi-tech-international-begins-making-biopolymer-from-corn-starch/article35423562.ece

July 12^th 2021

Tate & Lyle spins off industrial sweeteners, starches division to focus on specialty food and beverage solutions.

Tate & Lyle has struck a $1.3bn deal to sell a controlling stake in its ‘Primary Products’ industrial sweeteners and starches business in the Americas to private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, as it focuses on specialty sweeteners, fibers, texturants and other high-value food & beverage ingredients.

The Primary Products business will be moved into a newly formed company called NewCo in which Tate & Lyle will retain a 50% stake.

NewCo comprises three corn wet mills in the US, acidulant plants in the US and Brazil; a 50% stake in two joint ventures – Almex in Guadalajara, Mexico and Bio-PDO, in Loudon, Tennessee; and a grain elevator network and bulk transfer stations in North America.

Tate & Lyle will in turn focus on specialty ingredients for sweetening, mouthfeel, and fortification, such as allulose, sucralose, locust bean gum, stevia, specialty starches, fiber, tapioca and products from selected corn wet mills in Indiana, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.

Primary Products’ European operations, which accounted for around 5% of Primary Products’ revenue in the year ended 31 March 2021, will remain with Tate & Lyle, which said the deal would reduce its exposure to commodities markets in North America.

Upon completion of the deal – expected in the first quarter next year – Tate & Lyle plans to return about £500m to shareholders in a special dividend and retain remaining proceeds for investment, to strengthen its balance sheet, and for M&A, said Tate & Lyle, which sold its sugar business in 2010.

CEO Nick Hampton stated: “Today’s announcement represents the next phase in the evolution of Tate & Lyle. Our one strong company will become two stronger businesses, both in a position to pursue new and exciting growth opportunities in their respective markets.”

Speaking on a call with analysts this morning, Hampton said sweetening, mouthfeel, and fortification were areas of “significant growth” for Tate & Lyle, adding: “Over the last three years, in sweetening, revenue from products supporting sugar reduction, excluding sucralose, increased by a compound annual growth rate of over 20%. Over the same period, in mouthfeel, our range of clean label texturants delivered revenue growth with a CAGR of over 30%; and in fortification revenue for our soluble fibers grew by more than 15%.”

Source: https://www.tateandlyle.com/sites/default/files/2021-07/12-july-2021-tate-lyle-press-release-final.pdf

July 07^th 2021

Hydroxyethyl starch products shouldn’t be used for low blood volume unless no other options exist.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is requiring new safety warnings for hydroxyethyl starch (HES) products in light of reports of death, kidney injury and excessive bleeding associated with these products.

HES treatments are used to stabilize patients experiencing severe blood loss. The announcement follows up on an FDA safety review of these products from randomized clinical trials, meta-analyses, and observational studies. Through this review, the agency concluded that “changes to the Boxed Warning are warranted to highlight the risk of mortality, kidney injury, and excess bleeding, as well as to include a statement that HES products should not be used unless adequate alternative treatment is unavailable.”

There are currently three FDA-approved HES innovator products on the market: HESPAN, 6% hetastarch in 0.9% sodium chloride injection; made by B. Braun Medical, HEXTEND, 6% hetastarch in lactated electrolyte injection made by BioTime, and Voluven, 6% hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 in 0.9% sodium chloride injection, made by Fresenius Kabi. There is also one approved generic version of HESPAN that is distributed in the US (6% hetastarch in 0.9% sodium chloride injection) made by Hospira.

In reaching the decision to make the labeling changes, FDA relied on a meta-analysis as well as retrospective and observational studies that “collectively show increased risk of mortality” and acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing surgery who receive HES. The meta-analysis looked at 15 randomized controlled trials, finding a safety signal for increased risk of AKI and renal replacement therapy (RRT) in 4,409 surgical patients treated with HES products. The meta-analysis review was published in the August 2014 issue of Netherlands Journal of Critical Care.

Other retrospective and observational studies in a variety of surgical populations also found increased risk of AKI, RRT and coagulopathy, noted FDA.

For blunt trauma patients, receipt of HES products was associated with not only AKI, but also increased risk of mortality in two retrospective studies.

Excess bleeding when surgical patients received HES products was also seen in one small randomized controlled trial and a larger retrospective study.

This is not the first time that regulators have sounded alarm bells for these products: in 2013, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency issued warnings for these treatments, saying they had several worrisome side effects (RELATED: FDA adds serious new warnings to hydroxyethyl starch products, but falls short of EMA’s restrictions, Regulatory Focus 26 June 2013)

Source: https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/labeling-changes-mortality-kidney-injury-and-excess-bleeding-hydroxyethyl-starch-products

July 07^th 2021

Samyang Corp. has developed biodegradable plastic using corn starch.

A Bio-material That Can Be Easily Processed into Films.

Samyang Corp. announced on July 6 that it has developed biodegradable plastic using corn starch for the first time in the world. The biodegradable plastic utilizes a bio-material called “isosorbide*,” which is created by chemically processing starch from plants such as corn. The material is stronger and tougher than petroleum-based materials, so it can be easily processed in the form of film. For this reason, it is used to produce disposable bags, agricultural films and fishing nets among others.

Samyang Corp. also developed a compound that can be processed into films. Processing biodegradable plastic into a film form requires a compounding process. The company has developed technology related to this compounding process.

Samyang Innochem, an affiliate of Samyang Corp. is currently building an isosorbide plant with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons for completion in the second half of 2021.

Source: https://www.samyang.com/eng/HD03/Details/1789

* Isosorbide is a bicyclic chemical compound from the group of diols and the oxygen-containing heterocycles, containing two fused furan rings. The starting material for isosorbide is D-sorbitol, which is obtained by catalytic hydrogenation of D-glucose, which is in turn produced by hydrolysis of starch. Isosorbide is discussed as a plant-based platform chemical from which biodegradable derivatives of various functionality can be obtained. Isosorbide is currently of great scientific and technical interest as a monomer building block for biopolymeric polycarbonates, polyesters, polyurethanes and epoxides.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isosorbide

June 25^th 2021

A tiny device incorporates a compound made from starch and baking soda to harvest energy from movement.

Scientists have used a compound made from a starch derivative and baking soda to help convert mechanical to electrical energy. The approach, developed by scientists at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Technology (DGIST), with colleagues in Korea and India, is cost-effective and biocompatible, and can help charge low-energy electronics like calculators and watches. The details were published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

“Triboelectric nanogenerators harvest mechanical energy and convert it into an electric current,” explains DGIST robotics engineer Hoe Joon Kim. “But many of the materials used in these devices are considered a biohazard and are not suitable for wearable applications. Our triboelectric nanogenerator incorporates cyclodextrin, a green material that is widely used for drug delivery in the human body, making it eco-friendly and hazard-free.”

Cyclodextrin is a polysaccharide compound produced from starch. The scientists used it to link sodium ions together in what is known as a metal-organic framework (MOF). MOFs form porous materials widely used in gas storage, catalysis and sensing.

Specifically, Kim and his team applied ultrasound to a mixture of cyclodextrin and sodium bicarbonate in water. They then added trimesic acid and applied another short round of ultrasound. The process happens at room temperature and leads to the formation of a MOF made of sodium ions linked together by cyclodextrin bonds.

The team incorporated the MOF into a nanogenerator by coating it onto a copper electrode, which sits on a plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) base. Opposite to the MOF layer is a Teflon layer placed on a second copper electrode that is also stuck to a PET sheet. The two sides of the nanogenerator open and close in response to movements, such as walking or jogging. Each time the MOF makes contact with the Teflon, electrons are exchanged and an electric current is generated. This process is called the triboelectric effect.

The team tested the device by attaching it to a shoe, a backpack, and a person’s knee and abdomen. They found it could harvest mechanical energy from walking, jogging and bending, and even from some typical yoga moves. The device was able to drive low-power electronics like a digital wristwatch, a hydrometer and a calculator.

“Our MOF extends the list of triboelectric materials,” says Kim. He and his team plan to continue looking for biocompatible materials that can be used in wearable applications. They are also working on developing super capacitors that can store energy generated from triboelectric nanogenerators. “Using the nanogenerator and super capacitor together, we believe we can develop next-generation energy systems for wearable electronics, biodevices and robots,” he says.

Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/dgi-tcp062121.php

June 24^th 2021

In a world-first, a Kobe University research group led by Associate Professor FUKAYAMA Hiroshi of the Graduate School of Agricultural Science has used rice to successfully illuminate the mechanism by which plants regulate the amount of starch produced via photosynthesis. This knowledge could contribute towards improving the quality and yield of agricultural crops.

These research results were published in the international scientific journal Plant, Cell & Environment on May 14, 2021.

Main Point

• Plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic substances (such as starch) via photosynthesis. If a plant is growing in conditions where there is an elevated concentration of CO2, the amount of starch it produces increases.
• CRCT (1) protein levels increase when CO2 concentrations are elevated. This protein has been thought to promote starch synthesis but how it does this was previously unknown.
• The research group revealed that 14-3-3 proteins (2) play a role in CRCT-mediated regulation of starch synthesis.
• They indicated the possibility that CRCT moves into and becomes activated in the starch-storing parenchyma cells after being synthesized in the phloem’s vascular bundles.
• The researchers also revealed that CRCT binds to regulation sites on multiple starch synthesis-related genes and is a transcriptional activator protein.
• Synthesizing starch is a vital process for plants. The illumination of the regulatory mechanism behind this process will be useful for improving crop productivity and quality.

Research Background

The increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main cause of global warming, which is a worldwide issue. However, it has been said that this could benefit plants as they convert CO2 into starch via photosynthesis. If a crop is grown in conditions where there is an elevated concentration of CO2, starch synthesis is accelerated, resulting in vigorous growth and increased yield. CO2-Responsive CCT protein (CRCT) is activated in conditions where CO2 concentration is high, however its function remained unknown. This research group has been investigating these proteins using rice plants, and previously discovered that CRCT is an important protein that regulates starch synthesis. In their latest findings, the group have revealed how CRCT regulates this process, which was not understood until now.

Research Methodology and Findings

Various proteins are required for starch synthesis in plants, including glucose 6-phosphate/phosphate translocator, ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, starch synthase and starch branching enzyme. The researchers hypothesized that CRCT regulates the expression of multiple genes corresponding to these starch synthesis-related proteins. Proteins that regulate gene expression are called transcription factors. In many cases, these transcription factors form a complex with another protein. When the researchers analyzed the volume of CRCT inside a plant, they discovered that it can form a complex with some types of protein. To investigate this further, they performed an analysis using an antibody that specifically binds to CRCT, which revealed that CRCT binds to 14-3-3 proteins. From another analysis, this time using green fluorescent proteins, the research group illuminated that CRCT and 14-3-3 protein form a complex inside the nucleus (Figure 1). They also indicated the possibility that CRCT moves into and becomes activated in the starch-storing parenchyma cells after being synthesized in the phloem’s vascular bundles. Furthermore, the researchers revealed that CRCT promotes transcription by binding to regions that regulate the expression of multiple starch synthesis-related genes.

It is known that there is a negative correlation between the expression of 14-3-3 proteins and the amount of starch. However, our results showed that there is a positive correlation between the amount of starch and the expression of CRCT. Consequently, the research group assumes that 14-3-3 protein and CRCT form an inactive complex (Figure 2).

Further Developments

Starch synthesis is indispensable for plants, and CRCT, which regulates this process, is a prime target for efforts to improve crop quality and productivity. In addition, CRCT is a gene that is activated under conditions where there is an elevated concentration of CO2, and this knowledge will be useful for selecting suitable rice cultivars for such environments in the future. Furthermore, similar genes to CRCT have been found in every plant investigated so far. The research group is also currently investigating CRCT function in potato, a staple starch crop.

From an academic standpoint, there are still questions that need to be answered. Looking at the current research results, it can be supposed that CRCT proteins move between cells but the underlying mechanism is not known. Furthermore, it is not understood how CRCT changes its own expression level in response to CO2 concentrations and sugar levels. If the mechanism behind CRCT-mediated regulation of starch synthesis can be fully illuminated, it will be possible to make even greater improvements to agricultural crops.

Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/ku-itm062221.php

June 23^rd 2021

Researchers look at finding new opportunities for pulse starch.

Pulse crops grown in Saskatchewan, including peas, fababeans, chickpeas and lentils, have long been recognized as a safe and nutritious food source.

Now, researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are looking at novel uses for pulse starches that could result in the creation of new environmentally friendly products such as bioplastics, biofilms and plant-based biomedical materials.

This week, the provincial and federal governments announced that they’ve committed $2.5 million to support pulse starch research being led by U of S researcher Yongfeng Ai.

Ai’s project received the money through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) program and the Saskatchewan Strategic Research Initiative Program, whose theme is pulse starch utilization.

The work is aimed at improving the processes that are used to transform pulse crops into novel food ingredients as well as bioplastics, biofilms used for packaging and high-value, plant-based products used by the medical industry.

“Today’s investment will stimulate further development and growth in the Saskatchewan pulse and value-added industries by identifying new ways to process pulse starch,” said Saskatchewan ag minister Dave Marit.

The project will bring Saskatchewan closer to achieving a number of goals described in Saskatchewan’s Plan for Growth document, Marit added.

Those goals include processing 50 percent of Saskatchewan pulse crops in the province and increasing the province’s value-added agriculture revenue to $10 billion.

Pulse starches offer a wide variety of characteristics that make them unlike other botanical source materials.

Specifically, pulse starches can be developed into unique biogels that have different physical forms. They can also tolerate high temperature processing and are a good source of resistant starch — a new type of dietary fibre.

The strong gelling and film-forming ability of pulse starches make them a particularly useful ingredient for bioplastics and biomedical materials.

Potential uses include packaging materials, fabric fibres, hemostasis materials and wound dressings.

Unlike plastic-based products, products made from pulses starches are highly biodegradable and compostable.

“This project will build the university’s reputation as a leading research institution, working to highlight Canada’s innovation ecosystem on the global stage,” said Baljit Singh, the university’s vice-president of research.

“Dr. Ai’s work demonstrates the clear potential for the development of value-added pulse products to industry and the public at large.”

Ai, an assistant professor at the university’s College of Agriculture and Bioresearches, will explore new applications for Saskatchewan pulse starches and streamline the processes used to convert pulses into value added starch-based ingredients and products.

Ai also holds Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Endowed Research Chair in Carbohydrate Quality and Utilization. The research will be conducted in U of S laboratories in conjunction with the university’s Crop Development Centre, the departments of animal and poultry science and chemical and biological engineering, the Food Pilot Plant, the Fermentation Pilot Plant and the Bioprocessing Pilot Plant.

Other research collaborators include Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Centre, the University of Manitoba, the Alberta Food Processing Development Centre and the Canadian International Grains Institute.

Other researchers involved in the project include professors Michael Nickerson, Tom Warkentin, Bunyamin Tar’an, Bishnu Acharya, Darren Korber, Takuji Tanaka and Denise Beaulieu from the U of S and Malcolm Xing from the U of M.

Source: https://www.producer.com/news/on-the-hunt-for-new-ways-to-use-pulse-starch/

June 09^th 2021

Simplified ingredient lists and traceable origins increasingly prioritized.

Traceable, fair-trade and simplified labels and other claims are stealing the spotlight in Food & Beverage innovation, and texturizing ingredients are no exception to the trend. The plant-based space, in particular, is seeing new label-friendly texturizers come to market.

Alternatives to meat and dairy not only rely on hydrocolloids for texture and mouthfeel, these products are driven by a demographic already seeking ethical and sustainable claims on the foods they eat.

Reflecting the focus on clean label claims, Innova Market Insights reports the top positioning in Food & Beverage containing hydrocolloids is No Additives/Preservatives, accounting for 15 percent of product launches globally in 2020. This is followed by Gluten-Free (14 percent), High/Source of Protein (9 percent), Vegetarian (9 percent) and Vegan (7).

Furthermore, the use of hydrocolloids in F&B is decreasing globally, featuring a -1 percent year-over-year decline when comparing 2019 and 2020 launches, notes the market researcher.

This may demonstrate brands’ efforts to shorten the ingredient list with multifunctional texturizers, in-situ hydrocolloids or other clean label alternatives.

FoodIngredientsFirst speaks with industry experts on the latest hydrocolloid ingredients and technologies, which are sharpening the focus on clean and clear labeling in their latest texture developments.

Cargill and CP Kelco are two companies making strides in ingredients that can shorten the ingredient list for improved texture.

“From our 2021 IngredienTracker consumer research, we know that today’s shoppers have a keen interest in how their food is made,” says Matthias Bourdeau, marketing manager at Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe.

“They seek out products made with recognizable ingredients that they view as ‘minimally processed.’”

Cargill’s recently unveiled WavePure ADG powder ingredient, for instance, is sourced from red Gracilaria seaweed. As a traditional food ingredient in the EU, this gelling and thickening ingredient is suitable for dairy desserts and does not require an E-number.

For CP Kelco, a key strategy to reducing the total number of ingredients is finding one ingredient that can help accomplish multiple tasks. This could be a dual-function gellan gum for suspension and mouthfeel, or a new pectin that simplifies the process of making fruited yogurt drinks, explains Adeline Saadi, senior manager, business development at the company.

CP Kelco’s latest innovation, Nutrava Citrus Fiber, for example, is both a nutritional and functional ingredient with sustainable credentials.

“Our process allows us to convert the peels into a citrus fiber that is suitable for a broad range of food and beverage products,” she says.

The typical content of dietary fiber in Nutrava Citrus Fiber is a minimum of 80 percent with an approximately balanced amount of soluble and insoluble fiber.

The “close to nature” ingredient is touted for being able to help formulators meet their clean label goals while supporting dietary fiber intake and key requirements for texture and taste.

For dairy and dairy alternative beverages, new grades of KelcoGel Gellan Gum offer dual functionality by providing both long-lasting suspension and mouthfeel. It can represent cost savings for formulators and a way to achieve fewer ingredients on the label.

CP Kelco also offers grades to help meet organic-compliant, reduced-sugar, non-GMO and other clean label goals, she adds.

For Dennis Seisun, founder of hydrocolloids consultancy IMR International: “The battle for consumers has transitioned from inside the container to outside.”

In other words, traditionally, it has been the best product inside the container which won consumers’ minds and dollars: Good texture, mouthfeel, little syneresis, good flavor release, and suspension.

“But over the last few decades,” he says, “the importance of label declaration has gained importance, which could not have been imagined.”

As a result of intensified demand for clean label, Seisun explains, consumers have driven food companies to innovate in a way that achieves functionality with “a bit of an optical illusion.”

The best of example of this are in-situ ingredients, he details.

“Tomatoes with a higher pectin content are grown so as to avoid having to add any pectin; a higher dose of stabilizer is added to a yogurt fruit filling, which is then added to a yogurt which itself cannot contain a stabilizer.”

He explains that in the past, xanthomonas bacteria was fermented in whey extract, and the resulting xanthan gum was not recovered. The product was declared as “fermented whey extract” when, in essence, xanthan gum was providing the functionality.

“We expect to see more of the in-situ technologies used to please consumers while providing the needed functionalities.”

In a bid to support label-friendly formulation, Cargill added tapioca-based starches to its existing lines of corn- and potato-based SimPure starches earlier this year.

The SimPure functional native starches are obtained without chemical modification. Instead, the starch granules are stabilized through heat and moisture treatment.

This gives SimPure starches process stability similar to conventional modified starches while allowing for a reference to the botanical source (i.e., potato, corn or tapioca) on the ingredient label.

These process tolerant starches bring sensory and functional attributes together, offering a creamy mouthfeel, while delivering good water-binding properties and cold-storage stability.

The newly introduced tapioca-based SimPure solutions have a neutral flavor profile and targeted product applications that vary depending on the product range.

For example, the SimPure 996 series of tapioca starches create soft gel textures for applications such as firm-but-succulent meat alternatives.

New technologies in processing are also helping companies innovate to meet the growing demand for plant-based products with meat- or dairy-like mouthfeel.

Steve Matzke, senior manager, pioneering innovation at CP Kelco notes that, while fermentation is not new per se, more companies are inquiring about fermentation as a technique to sustainably produce ingredients and even alternative proteins.

“Fermentation provides a consistent approach to ingredient technology that is less reliant on climate and the volatility that can be associated with harvesting raw materials,” he says.

“Fermentation can be used to produce specific functional ingredients which can be enablers for improved sensory and textural properties of plant-based products.”

CP Kelco’s “go-to” ingredient for texture, KelcoGel Gellan Gum, is derived with fermentation.

It leverages the fast growth of microorganisms to efficiently scale up and produce large quantities for market, Matzke adds.

Taking on the tech challenge for a scalable plant-forward future, Cargill has invested in the start-up Bflike to enable affordable, plant-based alternatives that are “virtually indistinguishable from their animal-based counterparts.”

“Bflike is poised to be a new technology leader in the rapidly evolving meat and fish alternatives categories, which can really cover all these fronts,” says Belgin Köse, segment director proteins, Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers Europe.

Bflike will license its proprietary technology and premix ingredient solutions to food manufacturers and retailers, supporting them to commercialize their own meat and fish alternative products.

A key feature to Bflike’s technology, notes Köse, is its patent-pending vegan fat and blood platforms and its ability to utilize machinery commonly used for meat products.

“This means that their licensees will not need to buy expensive equipment or use energy-intensive technologies. Finally, the technology allows customers to move seamlessly from pilot to commercialization, scaling up quickly using their own production processes and machinery, while supported by Cargill’s secure supply of critical ingredients.”

Source: https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/texture-innovation-industry-experts-deem-clean-and-ethical-label-claims-paramount.html

June 03^rd 2021

USGC teams up with Egyptian corn starch company.

Most businesses have a desire to be more efficient with their inputs and increase profitability. To help one of the most renowned companies in Egypt improve its industrial starch plants’ operations, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) connected the Cairo- based company with high-level starch consultant, Dr. Vijay Singh of the University of Illinois.

“Dr. Singh’s consultation began in 2019 as he helped the starch producers evaluate their facilities and identify processes that could improve their overall operations and plant profitability,” said Kyle Gilliam, USGC manager of global strategies and trade.

“The results of the Council’s industrial corn starch study were shared with the starch company via a virtual conference last year. The findings showed that U.S. corn can extract three to four percent higher yields of starch versus corn of other origins, which can have a significant impact on the plant’s overall profitability.”

This week, Dr. Singh and Gilliam traveled to Cairo to help the Egyptian starch company understand the technology and science associated with corn wet milling through an audit that analyzed the starch extractability of U.S.-origin corn. The study’s results show that starch companies processing 1,500 metric tons per day of corn can gain about $1 million in additional profit for every one percent of increase in starch yield. But to reach that gain, technology must be optimized.

Through one-on-one meetings and tours of the facilities, Dr. Singh was able to review the company’s procedures, collect samples and provide specific recommendations for improving its wet milling operations. Optimization of the wet milling process also allows for the discussion of U.S. corn benefits.

“Dr. Singh’s technical expertise helps provide reassurance that U.S. corn and co-products are an available and reliable source in Egypt,” Gilliam said. “We are working to continue to build long-term trust in this competitive market.”

Increasing use of starch by Egyptian customers could mean additional sales of U.S. corn – both for starch and other purposes.

U.S. corn exports to North Africa and the Middle East are highly variable and compete on price with South American and the Black Sea corn. However, the region has more than 2 MMT (78 million bushels) of corn demand for 15 industrial starch plants in the region. If the Council’s engagement with the starch sector is successful, the Council will establish a consistent demand for 2 MMT (78 million bushels) of U.S. corn in the region for the industrial starch sector. In turn, this could increase overall demand for U.S. corn on an annual basis as traders and vessels are routinely shipping U.S. corn into the region 12 months of the year rather than just six. Subsequently, the local starch industry has the potential to earn a combined $15 million more annually due to higher starch yields in U.S. corn.

Source: https://www.world-grain.com/articles/15387-usgc-teams-up-with-egyptian-corn-starch-company

May 11^th 2021

Neanderthals ate starch-rich foods, expanding their brains.

Neanderthals and ancient humans adapted to eating starch-rich diets 100,000 years ago, far earlier than previously believed, according to a new study on the evolutionary history of the human oral microbiome.

According to the findings, such foods became important in the human diet long before farming and even before modern humans evolved.

And, although these early humans were probably unaware of it, the advantages of introducing the foods into their diet undoubtedly aided in the expansion of the human brain due to the glucose in starch, which is the brain’s main fuel source.

“We think we’re seeing evidence of a really ancient behavior that might have been part encephalization, or the growth of the human brain,” said Harvard Professor Christina Warinner, Ph.D. ’10. “It’s evidence of a new food source that early humans were able to tap into in the form of roots, starchy vegetables, and seeds.”

The findings are the result of a seven-year study conducted by more than 50 foreign scientists and published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers recreated the oral microbiomes of Neanderthals, primates, and humans, including what is thought to be the oldest oral microbiome ever sequenced: a 100,000-year-old Neanderthal.

The goal was to learn more about the evolution of the oral microbiome, which is a community of microorganisms found in our mouths that help to protect against disease and promote health.

The researchers compared the fossilized dental plaques of modern humans and Neanderthals to those of humanity’s nearest primate relatives, chimps and gorillas, as well as howler monkeys, a more distant relative.

The findings also push back on the idea that Neanderthals were top carnivores, given that the “brain requires glucose as a nutrient source and meat alone is not a sufficient source,” Warinner said.

According to the researchers, the discovery makes sense because starch-rich foods, such as underground roots, tubers (like potatoes), and forbs, as well as nuts and seeds, are important and reliable protein sources for hunter-gatherer societies around the world.

In reality, starch now accounts for roughly 60% of all calories consumed by humans worldwide.

“It shows that our microbiome encodes valuable information about our own evolution that sometimes gives us hints at things that otherwise leave no traces at all,” Warinner said.

Source: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/20/e2021655118

May 07^th 2021

European Commission’s positive conclusion on continued use of CRISPR for a competitive and green future.

Swedish Starch industry pleased with European Commission’s positive conclusion on the use of CRISPR.

On 29 April 2021, the European Commission published a study into new genomic techniques and the consequences of the European Court of Justice’s July 2018 judgment, which essentially made it impossible to continue the development of the new techniques within the EU.

The report concludes that the Nobel prize-awarded CRISPR technique is an important tool for the future of sustainable food systems and that our current GMO legislation must be modernized. The next step is a study of how the new legislation should be designed.

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter förening u.p.a. takes a very positive view of this conclusion from the European Commission’s study, and of the fresh optimism that it will now potentially be possible to use the CRISPR technique.

The EU Commission’s position means Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter will now be able to commercialize the efforts it has made in this field within the EU.

Hans Berggren, CEO of Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter, förening u.p.a.: “We have invested considerable resources in the CRISPR technique because we see the opportunity to develop future climate-smart food products.”

“The judgment issued by the EU court in July 2018 was a setback for us, but we have continued to believe in a future where it would also be possible to use these techniques within the EU. The report from the EU Commission is important, and we’re very optimistic about this development.”

Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter began its drive to use the CRISPR technique to develop new, climate-smart varieties of seed potatoes in 2014. The new varieties are now being cultivated for the second year and preparations are being made to move on to the commercialization of new starch products.

Hans Berggren: “We won’t merely be offering our customers new, climate-smart products – we’ll also be reinforcing our competitiveness and increasing profitability for ourselves, our business partners, and our customers, who will gain access to a starch that increases the value of their products.”

In 2020, together with researchers and SLU Holding, Sveriges Stärkelseproducenter formed the start-up company SolEdits AB. The company’s business concept is to expand the use of CRISPR to develop new potato varieties and to make the technique available to all interested parties in the potato business.

Source: https://www.lyckeby.com/en/news/Pages/European-Commission%E2%80%99s-positive-conclusion-on-continued-use-of-CRISPR-for-a-competitive-and-green-future.aspx

April 27^th 2021

Packages Limited approves plans to form company for corn-based starch.

Packages Limited has approved a plan to form a specialized subsidiary for the production of corn-based starch, a bio-based alternative to conventional packaging material such as plastic. The board of directors has approved the plan for investment.

Through a statement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), Packages Limited said that its board has approved the formation of wholly-owned subsidiary, which will be engaged in the business of manufacturing and distributing corn-based and its derivative products. The plan and approval is subjected to all applicable regulatory approvals.

Due to the negative environmental impacts of synthetic plastics, the development of biodegradable plastics for both industrial and commercial applications became essential. Researchers have developed various starch-based composites for different applications.

The present work investigates the corn and rice starch-based bioplastics for packaging applications with improved hydrophilicity, thermogravimetric, and sealing properties of bioplastic. The results show the suitability of rice and corn-based thermoplastic starch for packaging applications.

Source: https://www.brecorder.com/news/amp/40087749

April 19^th 2021

Germany’s Loryma unveils formula for plant-based bacon.

German ingredients manufacturer Loryma, the brand of the Crespel & Deiters Group, has unveiled a new wheat-based formula dubbed the Lory Bind’s functional starch blends that replicates bacon’s mouthfeel and sensory characteristics.

The new plant-based bacon concept uses a combination of a wheat-based Lory Bind binding component and a bacon spice blend.

Loryma explained that the wheat-based binder when prepared in a pan behaves like its traditional meat counterpart; becoming crispy on the outside while retaining a delicate, fibrous texture.

The plant-based concept can be used in the same manner as traditional bacon and a variety of foodservice, catering, or convenience applications.

The Lory Bind’s functional starch blends are odorless and neutral in taste, making them suitable for many vegan and vegetarian meat alternatives

According to Henrik Hetzer, managing director of Loryma, the raw materials combine naturalness with maximum functionality. He added that the product helps create products that perfectly meet the current consumer trend for meat-free convenience foods.

Source: https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/loryma-develops-new-formula-for-authentic-wheat-based-vegan-bacon.html

April 16^th 2021

Cargill is partnering with Starpro, the leading food grade tapioca starch producer in Thailand.

Cargill is partnering with Starpro, the leading food grade tapioca starch producer in Thailand, to expand its specialty tapioca starch offerings in the Asia Pacific region, supporting the product processing requirements of food manufacturers and meeting the sensory expectations of consumers.

“Food manufacturers in Asia are faced with the challenge of meeting rising consumption demand, especially within the convenience and foodservice categories. As leaders in the modified starches industry, this partnership with Starpro will allow us to leverage our collective strengths more effectively to generate greater opportunities for growth, as well as support new innovations and solutions in the future,” said Franck Monmont, managing director of Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturizers Asia. “Our ambition is to be the partner-of-choice for customers in the region, by combining deep market and technical knowledge, a robust product offering and cost optimization through local manufacturing.”

Johnney Hsueh, Consultant with Starpro, added, “Through this cooperation between Cargill and Starpro, we look forward to promoting the wider use of quality modified tapioca starch among food manufacturers across the world.”

The agreement will cover a full range of locally manufactured modified tapioca starches for the food industry across markets in Asia Pacific as well as globally. In addition to this high quality tapioca starch range, Cargill also offers a wide portfolio of starches and starch-based texturizing solutions across different raw materials that provide multi-functional properties to meet the varied needs of Asian customers’ food processes and cuisines.

“Texture is a critical element in the Asian palate. From instant noodles to packaged foods and snacks like Chinese sausages, gyozas and Japanese mochi, as well as beverages like the perennial favorite bubble tea, Asian consumers are known to seek out textural experience in their foods,” explained Monmont. “As a non-GMO botanical with unique textural properties such as chewiness, springiness and a clean taste profile, tapioca starch is well suited to help food manufacturers meet the product expectations of Asian consumers.”

This signing with Starpro is the latest move by Cargill to grow its specialty starch portfolio in Asia-Pacific, after the announcements of the expansion of a cold-water swelling starch line at its sweetener plant in Pandaan, Indonesia, as well as the construction of a modified starch plant in Songyuan, China.

As part of the company’s long-term strategic vision to grow its presence in Asia-Pacific, Cargill has also made many significant investments in the region in recent years:

• Construction of a new US$100 million corn wet mill and starch dryer in Pandaan, Indonesia;
• Launches its first chocolate manufacturing operation in India;
• Opens its first food innovation center in Singapore;
• Celebrates 40 years in Malaysia and total operational investment of nearly US$450 million;
• Growth in Thailand with US$70 million investment in seafood and poultry, total investment of more than US$1.15 billion after 50 years in the country.

Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cargill-expands-specialty-tapioca-starch-020000636.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

April 15^th 2021

Royal Avebe and Solynta join forces: hybrid breeding in starch potato production.

Averis Seeds B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Avebe, will be working together with the hybrid potato breeding company Solynta on the hybrid breeding of starch potato varieties. Hybrid breeding facilitates significantly faster development of new sustainable potato varieties compared to conventional breeding.

Hybrid breeding is an important accelerator for making starch potato cultivation more sustainable because it allows for a faster response to challenges such as changing weather conditions and potato diseases that constantly adapt to resistances. Growing better varieties faster reduces the need for crop protection products, and yields can be increased while using fertilisers more effectively.

Johan Hopman, Breeding & Research Manager at Averis: “Now that we can see the successful results of hybrid breeding, the time has come to use this technique for breeding starch potato varieties as well.”

For over twelve years, Solynta has been working on obtaining Hybrid True Potato Seed: a technical revolution that enables faster breeding. Hybrid breeding makes it possible to better control the progress of varietal properties.

Naturally occurring properties such as resistance to drought, pests and diseases can be quickly introgressed. The result is a significantly shorter development process and faster progress with the properties that are of value to Avebe’s growers.

Director Research & Development Edwin van der Vossen of Solynta: “This collaboration brings together Averis’ specific knowledge of properties and genetics for starch potato cultivation with Solynta’s hybrid breeding platform, creating a continuous stream of ever-improving varieties for Avebe’s growers.”

Source: https:https://www.avebe.com/news/royal-avebe-and-solynta-join-forces-hybrid-breeding-in-starch-potato-production/

April 13^th 2021

This technical note shows how to analyze the starch quality of different batches or starch types in a short period of time (approx. 10 min.).

Starch is the main component of wheat grains. It is stored as a compact form of glucose inside starch granules and consists of one fifth of amylose and to four fifths of amylopectin.

Heated within a suspension of water, the starch granules start to swell, whereby the water gets absorbed in an irreversible manner during the heating processes. The volume of the granules increases, and after a specific time the starch shells break. Due to water binding to amylose and amylopectin, hydration shells are forming and turning into a paste or gel. How much water can be absorbed and at which temperature the starch shells burst, depends on the individual starch type.

Knowing these individual gelatinization properties is essential for starch producers or processors. To analyze the starch quality of different batches or starch types in a short period of time (approx. 10 min.), the Brabender ViscoQuick can be used.

Source: https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/whitepaper/142593/starch-analysis-with-the-brabender-viscoquick/

March 24^th 2021

Ingredion launches ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch for indulgent textures made faster and better.

Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions to diversified industries, today announced a new addition to its extensive range of potato-based solutions for the U.S. and Canada, ULTRA-TEX® 1311 modified potato starch.

The waxy, instant starch offers food manufacturers a new way to create premium products with enhanced product appeal and cost savings potential. ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch can be used in a wide variety of traditional and alternative formulations to create indulgent textures, improve stability vs. native potato starch, or replace oil without compromising sensory appeal. The starch is especially ideal for plant-based, low-fat, reduced-fat, better-for-you and keto-friendly applications.

The easy-to-use starch exhibits high process tolerance and viscosity, excellent water-holding capacity and shelf life stability, and superior clarity in formulations. The sensory profile of ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch is characterized by a smooth, creamy texture, a rich mouthfeel and a clean flavor. Ideal applications for the ingredient include dairy desserts, bakery/fruit fillings, spreadable, spoonable and pourable dressings, sauces and other savory applications.

“The launch of ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch exemplifies Ingredion’s commitment to expanding our potato capabilities,” said John Zou, Ingredion’s business director, Potato Starch. “With our legacy Penford and Western Polymer knowledge and expertise, food manufacturers now have another potato-based option for creating differentiated products with consumer appeal and cost savings potential.”

Ingredion’s instant ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch can help eliminate cooking and shorten processing times, allowing food manufacturers to save energy, time and capital equipment costs while realizing higher production rates. The new starch can also enable cost savings and enhance nutrition in formulations by replacing fats, oils or building back texture when eggs are removed.

The ingredient’s superb thickening properties can lower overall usage levels of starch up to 30%. When used in dressings, ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch offers a potential fat reduction of up to 30%, providing manufacturers a broader range of options for replacing fat without compromising mouthfeel and texture.

ULTRA-TEX 1311 modified potato starch is sourced locally in the U.S. and is made from an ingredient (potato) that is widely accepted and recognized by consumers. Labeled as modified potato starch or food starch modified, it can support a number of appealing package claims, such as “non-corn,” “non-GMO” and “non-grain.” It’s also free from gluten at the source, does not require allergen labeling and is compatible with vegetarian, vegan, kosher and halal diets.

“Ingredion’s new modified potato starch opens new possibilities for food manufacturers to formulate more indulgent, healthier products that are clean in flavor, higher in viscosity vs. other starches and have improved clarity,” said Mabel Chacko, Ingredion’s project leader. “With Ingredion’s deep application and formulation expertise and a full range of potato texturizers, manufacturers have the knowhow they need to build-back texture, create winning consumer sensory experiences and save money.”

Source: https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2021/03/25/Ingredion-launches-new-modified-potato-starch

March 23^rd 2021

Vegetable starch and carbon nanotubes form the electrodes of a 3D-printed lithium-ion battery that promises a more environmentally-friendly, higher-capacity source of power for mobile devices.

This is the claim of engineers led from Glasgow University who have been looking to make lithium-ion batteries capable of storing and delivering power more efficiently and sustainably. The battery’s design and fabrication is outlined in a paper published in the Journal of Power Sources.

Lithium-ion batteries comprise a positive electrode, often made from lithium cobalt/manganese oxide or lithium iron phosphate, and a negative electrode, often made from lithium metal. During charging, lithium ions flow through an electrolyte from the positive electrode to the negative electrode. During use, the ions flow in the opposite direction.

The thickness of the electrode can limit the battery’s performance. According to Glasgow University, thicker electrodes restrict diffusion of lithium ions across the electrode, thereby limiting the specific energy of lithium-ion batteries. Increasing electrodes’ thickness also decreases their strain-tolerance, making them more prone to cracking and rendering them useless.

The Glasgow-led team’s battery has introduced nanoscale and microscale pores into their design. By covering the surface and interior of the electrodes with pores, they can greatly increase the surface area compared to a solid electrode of the same external dimensions.

To do so, they used an additive manufacturing technique to tightly control the size and placement of each and every pore in their electrodes. They loaded their 3D printer with a material they developed which combines polylactic acid, lithium-iron phosphate and carbon nanotubes. The polylactic acid is a biodegradable material processed from the starch of corn, sugar cane, and sugar beet, increasing the battery’s recyclability.

They experimented with making circular electrodes at three different thicknesses of 100, 200 and 300 microns. Each electrode was tested with different combinations of materials, varying the amount of carbon nanotubes in the material mixture from 3 to 10 per cent by weight, and the porosity from 10 to 70 per cent by introducing tightly-controlled grids of holes throughout the electrode.

The team’s 300-micron electrode battery with 70 per cent porosity performed the best during testing, with a specific capacity of 151mAh/g, which Glasgow University said is two to three times the performance of a traditional lithium-ion battery with a solid electrode of the same thickness.

The increased porosity of the thickest 300-micron electrode also influenced the battery’s areal capacity. The thicker electrode was capable of storing 4.4mAh cm−2 compared to 1.7mAh cm−2 achieved in the 100-micron electrode, a gain of 158 per cent.

The research was led by Dr Shanmugam Kumar from Glasgow University’s James Watt School of Engineering, alongside colleagues from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, and Texas A&M University and Arizona State University in the USA.

In a statement, Dr Kumar said: “Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly common in everyday life and are likely to continue to increase in ubiquity as we move towards more electrification of transport and a more sustainable world. However, lithium-ion batteries have their own sustainability issues, so it’s important that we look to find new ways to make them better and more environmentally-friendly.

“The 3D printing process we’ve used in this research gives us a remarkable amount of control over the electrodes’ porosity, allowing us to engineer very precisely a new metamaterial capable of addressing some of the shortcomings of the current generation of lithium-ion batteries. We’ve created a battery with a high specific capacity and areal capacity with excellent cyclability.

“These are promising initial results, and we’re keen to continue to explore the possibilities that this kind of microarchitected materials offer to create better, more recyclable batteries for future consumers.”

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378775321001701?dgcid=author

March 08^th 2021

Ingredion has opened new pea based manufacturing facility in Nebraska.

Ingredion Incorporated has made two new additions to its plant-based portfolio produced at the company’s new pea protein manufacturing facility in South Sioux City, Nebraska ̶ Vitessence Pulse 1853 pea protein isolate and Purity P 1002 pea starch.

The ingredient solutions are 100 percent sustainably sourced from North American farms, enabling food and beverage manufacturers to create innovative plant-based food and beverages.

“I am incredibly proud of this milestone and our employees, particularly the team in Nebraska, who rallied together to make today a reality,” said Ingredion President and CEO Jim Zallie. “We are committed to shaping the future of plant-based food — and we’re continually investing to help our customers formulate and innovate in this rapidly developing space. I am confident that by working together, we will fulfill our purpose of bringing together the potential of people, nature and technology to make life better.”

The new pea isolate and pea starch join the company’s portfolio of plant-based proteins and ingredients, which includes the plant protein concentrates and flours produced in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan.

With the introduction of the South Sioux City, Nebraska pea protein facility, the company is now the only manufacturer in North America to offer “produced in the U.S. and Canada” plant protein isolate, concentrate, flour and starch products ranging from <10% to 85% protein on a dry basis.

These on-trend, high-quality ingredients are backed by the plant protein experts of Ingredion Idea Labs innovation centers, who bring a global reach and local knowledge to manufacturers looking to boost protein and solve texture challenges sustainably.

“The addition of higher protein pulses capitalizes on our ability to help our customers deliver consumer-preferred food and beverages to global markets,” said Jorgen Kokke, Ingredion’s executive v.p. and president, Americas. “By combining our expertise and product formulation capabilities with high-quality ingredients, we are well positioned to be a reliable supplier supporting our customers with breakthrough, innovative plant-based solutions.”

Vitessence Pulse 1853 pea protein isolate offers 85% protein (dry basis) to heighten protein content across a variety of applications and does not label as a major allergen. Sourced in North America and produced at the South Sioux City facility, the pea protein isolate enables manufacturers to meet consumer demand for increased protein delivery, clean labels and sustainable sourcing.
Purity P 1002 native pea starch combines versatility and clean-label appeal to deliver just-right texture for applications as diverse as plant based cheese, gelatin-free confectionery and gluten-free baked goods.

Source: https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/89597-ingredion-introduces-us-made-pea-protein-starch

February 25^th 2021

Tuas (Singapore) fire: The explosive danger of potato powder, sugar, flour and other dust particles.

Potato starch powder has been pinpointed as the source of a explosion at an industrial building in Tuas (Singapore) on Wednesday (Feb 24), which left three workers dead and injured seven others.

Preliminary investigations have found that the incident at 32E Tuas Avenue 11 was caused by “a combustible dust explosion”, said Commissioner for Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Silas Sng on Thursday.

He added that the dust in this case was potato starch in powder form. The company at the site – Stars Engrg – uses potato starch powder to manufacture its products, said Mr Sng.

As of Thursday night, five of the injured workers remain in hospital in critical condition, while two have been discharged.

CNA explains how potato starch powder – or other dust particles, including commonly found ones such as sugar or flour – can be an explosion hazard.

According to a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) circular issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Division in July 2015, fine particles can combust when all five elements of a “dust explosion pentagon” are present: fuel (the combustible dust), air, dispersion, confinement and ignition source.

“It is a known scientific fact that … materials in powder form can be explosive when it is dispersed over the air,” said Mr Sng, who is also director of the Occupational Safety and Health Division, on Thursday.

“Especially when they are in an enclosed environment … with a source of ignition, you get an explosion, as you see in this case here,” he added.

In such dust explosions – which happen “often but not always in an enclosed location” – the fine particles that are suspended in air experience “rapid combustion”, said the MOM circular.

And what differentiates dust explosions from fires linked to a mass of solid material is the size of the combustible surface area.

“A mass of solid combustible materials will burn relatively slowly due to the limited surface area exposed to the air. However, when the same solid is divided into fine powder and dispersed as suspended particles in air in the form of dust cloud, the result will be quite different,” said MOM in the circular.

“In this case, the surface area exposed to the air is much larger, and if ignition occurs, the whole of the cloud may burn very rapidly. This results in a rapid release of heat and gaseous products, causing pressure to rise.”

Materials that are combustible in dust form include organic matter, such as sugar, corn starch, flour, peat, soot and cellulose pulp, according to MOM’s circular.

Various types of chemical particles are also combustible, including ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and sulphur.

Metals such as aluminium, bronze, magnesium and zinc can also catch fire in powder form, as can plastics such as resins, melamine and polymers.

The WSH commissioner on Thursday explained that combustible dust can be generated when powder is transferred, for example from a bag into a mixer.

“Over time, the dust can accumulate in the environment, especially if the ventilation or the housekeeping is inadequate,” said Mr Sng.

As such, dust control is one of the measures recommended to minimise fire risks.

The MOM circular suggested having local exhaust ventilation systems that “can capture dusts effectively to prevent unnecessary dispersion of combustible dusts where people are at work”.

Such systems can be implemented at suitable locations where materials are loaded, unloaded or transferred, while “taking care to not to have an extensive ducting network, which can cause burning materials to spread following an explosion” within the ventilation system, said MOM.

The ministry also recommended housekeeping and maintenance of dust collection system and filters, with vacuuming or wet cleaning methods preferred over sweeping methods. “Sweeping would tend to cause more dispersion of dust particles,” it said.

To prevent ignition, MOM said flame-proof equipment or non-sparking tools should be used in areas where combustible powders are handled.

Operators should also ensure effective bonding and grounding of powder handling units to prevent the accumulation of electrostatic charges, which may lead to ignition when inadvertently discharged.

Inert gases such as nitrogen can be used to reduce or eliminate the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere.

MOM also recommended other measures such as providing explosion relief to safely vent the energy in the event of an explosion, installing detectors for sparks or glowing materials, and isolating areas handling combustible dusts from other parts of the workplace.

And on top of providing training and refresher courses on combustible dust hazards, employers must equip workers with the right personal protective equipment such as fire retardant clothing and safety shoes.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/explosion-in-tuas-industrial-building-on-wednesday-claims-three-lives

February 19^th 2021

Tate & Lyle completes acquisition of tapioca business in Thailand.

Tate & Lyle has completed the acquisition of an 85% shareholding in Chaodee Modified Starch, a tapioca modified food starch manufacturer located in Thailand. The signing of a conditional agreement for this acquisition was announced on 28 October 2020.

Nick Hampton, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues to Tate & Lyle. This acquisition extends our presence in speciality tapioca-based texturants and allows us to offer a broader range of tapioca-based solutions to meet customers’ needs for better tasting and clean label foods. It also establishes a dedicated production facility in the main tapioca area of eastern Thailand and expands our manufacturing footprint in the higher growth Asia Pacific region.”

Source: https://www.tateandlyle.com/news/tate-lyle-completes-acquisition-tapioca-business-thailand

February 04^th 2021

Gigantic Tummers washing line for Danish potato starch producer.

The results of a Tummers starch production line at a Danish starch factory are right to be called astonishing! Between September and December last year, this process line consisting of four of their biggest washing installations ran 10 hours a day, washing a mind-blowing 700,000 tonnes of potatoes.

Also, the expected yield of 130,000 tonnes of starch per season was easily exceeded by an astonishing 174,000 tonnes. A result to be proud of!

Prior to the mashing and drying of potatoes during potato starch production, their Destoner/washers receive the potatoes in order to clean them thoroughly.

The record breaking KW800-models which are running at the Danish potato starch factory are the biggest ones of their kind. These highly efficient washing machines run up to 175 tonnes per hour and are particularly known for their low-maintenance and user-friendly design.

Washing is an important step in obtaining a perfect end product. Based on many years of experience, Tummers washing systems are designed for excellent cleaning with gentle product handling and a minimal use of water.

The innovative, high-capacity destoner/washer combines the latest expertise in washing technology and was developed for 24/7 industrial use.

Source: Tummers Food Processing Solutions https://www.tummers.nl/en/productoverzicht/waslijn/ontstener-wasserunit

February 01^st 2021

Cargill is expanding its portfolio of label-friendly SimPure starches, adding tapioca starches to its existing lines of corn- and potato-sourced starches.

The new tapioca starches enable brands to create process-tolerant textures, while appealing to consumer preferences for simple, familiar ingredients. Cargill said the starches are versatile and suitable for a range of applications, including dairy and dairy alternatives, convenience sauces and ready meals, meat alternatives and pet food.

Cargill’s initial offering will feature four tapioca starches, two sold under its SimPure 996 series and two under its SimPure 999 series. The Non-GMO Project Verified texturizers share a few common traits, including a neutral flavor profile, but nuances in their functional attributes are intended to give formulators new tools for specific processing conditions and product applications.

Tapioca starches in the SimPure 996 series create soft gel textures, suitable for spoonable yogurts. The high process tolerant starches bring sensory and functional attributes together, offering a creamy mouthfeel, while delivering on water-binding properties and cold-storage stability.

The SimPure 999 series encompasses the company’s non-gelling tapioca starches, which deliver creamy, indulgent textures thanks to their fat-mimetic properties. These starches are designed for stirrable yogurts, pumpable fruit preps and other applications that require a thick-but-fluid texture. They offer cold-storage stability, controlling syneresis over shelf life and are a good choice for kettle-cooked soups, sauces and ready meals.

Erin Radermacher, Cargill’s senior technical services specialist, said, “Today’s shoppers are more discerning than ever before, with a keen interest in how their food is made. That’s why we continue to expand our SimPure line, providing our customers with advanced texturizing solutions that use familiar ingredients to address a growing range of processing challenges, all backed by our global team of technical experts.

“As we evaluate new starches, we’re careful to balance process tolerance and functional performance with other critical factors like sensory and consumer acceptance. Our new high-performing tapioca starches do it beautifully. Consumers will love how they label, and formulators will love all that they can do.”

Source: https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/cargill-adds-four-new-tapioca-starches-to-its-simpure-starch-portfolio

January 20^th 2021

cph Deutschland Chemie, has developed a new labeling adhesive based on wastewater potato starch.

cph Deutschland Chemie, in partnership with Novidon, has developed Regain, a new labeling adhesive based on wastewater potato starch ideal for the food, and in particular for the beverage industry.

The production of fries, potato chips, and other potato products generates vast amounts of starch-containing wastewater. Novidon, known for its innovative starch technologies, part of the international Duynie Group, extracts starch as a co-product released during the production of potatoes into fries and chips.

While potatoes and potato starch are used for several applications, there are two ways to produce it. The first one is starch processed traditionally from the whole potato. The second one, a completely new route, is extracting the starch from process water of the production of crisps and fries. The latter is more sustainable and more attractive for cph as edibles are not being reused.

‘This is in line with our company philosophy. For more than four decades, we at cph, work hard on developing sustainable products for our clients. In 1983 we developed the first biodegradable labeling adhesive. We were the first company to offer labeling adhesives free of phenolic compounds, heavy metals, and formaldehyde. Besides, we have optimized our production and supply chain. For example, we are using rainwater for production and 100 percent green energy. Hence, our new product based on potato starch as a co-product released during the production of potato products is a great extension of our portfolio,’ said Dr Gerwin Schüttpelz, CEO of cph Deutschland Chemie.

Source: https://www.cph-group.com/en/2020/09/01/european-neighbourhood-partnership-sealed/

January 18^th 2021

Modified starch ‘ink’ developed for 3D printing: ‘They’re simple, cheap and easy to implement on an industrial scale’.

‘Ink’ used to make foods and novel materials by additive manufacturing have been developed by food engineers from modified starch.

3D printing is attractive to food manufacturers for a number of reasons: foods printed using this next-gen tech have the potential to suit consumer preferences in terms of taste, texture, cost, convenience, and nutrition. The technology is predicted to play a key role in food personalisation going forward, whether it be via the customisation of shapes, textures, flavours or colours for demographics with particular needs, such as children and the elderly.

To advance progress in the 3D printed food world, researchers in Brazil and France have developed plant-based ‘inks’ they say can be used to build these products. The hydrogels are based on modified starch.

Researchers from the University of São Paulo’s Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) in Brazil, and colleagues from France’s Nantes Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering (Oniris) and the National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), developed different technologies to modify starch and obtain gels with ‘ideal characteristics’ for 3D printing.

The first gels produced by the team of international researchers were based on cassava starch, using ozone modify the starch’s structure and properties. The ozone was produced by applying an electrical discharge to oxygen, bubbled gas in a container with a mixture of water and cassava starch in suspension, and dried the mixture by removing the water.
By playing with this process, including ozone concentration, temperature and time, the researchers were able to make gels with different properties to find the right consistency for 3D printing.

“Control of the conditions enabled us to obtain weaker gels for other applications and firmer gels that are ideal for 3D printing because they retail the shape of the printed structure without flowing or losing moisture,” noted principal investigator and professor at ESALQ-USP Pedro Esteves Duarte Augusto.

Cassava and wheat starch ‘ink’Another method has also been developed by the researchers. This one involves dry heading cassava and wheat starch in an oven while controlling both temperature and time. This method enabled them to obtain gels that displayed ‘optimal printability’ – meaning that food can be printed layer-by-layer and maintain its structure. “We obtained good results with both methods. They’re simple, cheap and easy to implement on an industrial scale,” said Augusto.

Potential for new ingredients.

Next up, the research cohort plans to identify other methods of starch modification for the production of 3D printing gels, they revealed. ESALQ-USP has acquired a 3D printer, which the researchers will use to test structures developed with the new gels.

It has also been suggested that the gels based on modified cassava and wheat starch could be used to print things outside of the food sphere, such as drug capsules and nutraceuticals.
“We’ve demonstrated the feasibility of food production by 3D printing and fabrication of tailor-made ingredients,” said Augusto. “Now we plan to extend the applications and test other raw materials.”

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996920307560?via%3Dihub

December 31^st 2020

December 10^th 2020

Rising food consumption drives Cargill’s expansion of cold-water swelling starch production in Indonesia.

Expansion will double production capacity to better serve food manufacturers, particularly in the convenience and foodservice categories.

Food manufacturers across the world today are faced with the challenge of meeting rising consumption demand, especially within the convenience and foodservice categories . To better help manufacturers address this need, Cargill is doubling its cold-water swelling starch production capacity at PT. Sorini Agro Asia Corporindo, its sweetener plant in Pandaan, Indonesia. The expansion is expected to be completed by May 2021.

“Since the start of our cold-water swelling starch line in Pandaan three years ago, we have provided customers in the region with shorter delivery lead times, increased supply reliability, and more cost-competitive, Asia-focused specialty starch products,” says Franck Monmont, managing director of Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturizers Asia. “Along with our recent announcement of a US$100 million investment to build a corn wet mill and starch dryer at the same site, this latest development reaffirms Cargill’s confidence in Asia as a leading food and beverage market, as well as our long-term commitment to support both Asian and global consumption needs as a trusted and innovative food ingredients company.”

Derived from plant origins, cold-water swelling starches are regarded as the best-in-class instant starch solutions that give unique textures to end products, while offering improved viscosity, better dispersibility, and more flexibility in processing. As a cost effective and functionally superior solution, cold-water swelling starches are ideal for sauces and dressings, snacks, bakery goods, as well as bakery fillings and cold prepared dairy products.

The Pandaan expansion complements existing lines in North America and Europe to further strengthen Cargill’s cold-water swelling starch manufacturing capabilities worldwide. Cargill’s growth in cold-water swelling starch is just one more example of its industry leadership in texturizing solutions as it continues to supply innovative products and services that meet the application and marketplace needs of customers around the world.

Source: https://www.cargill.com/2020/rising-food-consumption-drives-cargills-expansion-of-cold

December 09^th 2020

S.Africa’s Tongaat sells starch business to Barloworld unit for $353 million.

South Africa’s Tongaat Hulett said on Wednesday it had sold its starch business to a subsidiary of Barloworld for 5.260 billion rand ($353 million) based on debt and working capital at the end of October.

Barloworld’s KLL Group unit had paid 4.986 billion rand to Tongaat on Oct. 31, as an estimate of the final purchase price based on the financial position of the starch business at the end of September.

($1 = 14.9219 rand)

Source: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/s.africas-tongaat-sells-starch-business-to-barloworld-unit-for-%24353-million-2020-12-09

Novermber 25^th 2020

Cargill invests US $100 million in facility in Pandaan, Indonesia.

Investment in new corn wet mill and starch dryer increases production of starches and sweeteners to meet growing demand in food, industrial and feed markets across region.

Cargill is investing US $100 million in its sweetener plant, PT. Sorini Agro Asia Corporindo, in Pandaan to build a corn wet mill and add a starch dryer to better serve the growing customer demand for corn-based starches, sweeteners and animal feed ingredients. The facility is expected to be online by early 2022.

“The new corn wet mill allows us to purchase corn and convert it into corn-based starch and sweeteners. With an enhanced product portfolio and substantially more production capacity, we are better positioned to support our customers’ growth plans,” shared Franck Monmont, managing director of Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturizers (CSST) Asia. “This investment also demonstrates our commitment to grow in this region and provides significant support to the local economy with a new revenue stream for regional farmers.”

The Pandaan facility originally opened in 1983 and currently imports dry starch (tapioca and corn) and converts it into sweeteners, such as glucose, sorbitol, and maltodextrin. With the expanded capabilities, Cargill will be able to produce corn-based equivalents of its existing sweeteners and add corn starch, corn gluten meal, corn gluten feed and corn germ to its portfolio. In doing so, Cargill is better prepared to collaborate with customers to meet their formulation needs, from confectionary, dairy, and convenience foods to personal care products and paper products to animal feed.

“Our investment to enhance and expand our sweetener plant in Pandaan comes at a time when the Indonesian government has identified a critical need for more investments1 into the country’s agricultural sector,” said Sunit Dhoka, CSST managing director for Southeast Asia and country representative for Indonesia. “According to data from the Investment Coordination Board (BKPM), only 3% of foreign direct investments into Indonesia in 2019 were in agriculture – a sector which accounts for 29%2 of the country’s total employment. We are optimistic that our investment will have a positive impact, with our operations creating sustained demand to support upstream agricultural activities in Indonesia and especially in East Java.”

Today, Cargill employs 20,000 people at 60 locations across Indonesia. In addition to its total direct investment of $800 million in Indonesia in the past 5 years, which includes this project, Cargill has contributed more than $5 million to nonprofit organizations in the country to support health, education and community economic empowerment.

Source: https://www.cargill.co.id/en/2020/cargill-invests-us-$100-million-in-facility-in-pandaan,-indonesi

December 07^th 2020

Dry heating treatment: A potential tool to improve the wheat starch properties for 3D food printing application.

Brazilian and French scientists working out of the University of São Paulo and the Atlantic National College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering have discovered a dry heating treatment that converts wheat starch to hydrogel form. This discovery better allows the starch to be used in additive manufacturing for food products. The innovation notably improves the printed wheat product’s ability to retain shape, which is a critical part of large-scale additive food production. The researchers also successfully tested their method on cassava starch. The researchers’ results are published in Food Research International.

Printing food products is a growing segment in the additive manufacturing space. This network has reported recent developments, which include a first bioprinting meat in space and Cakewalk3D’s Digital Patisserie. The segment has also grown to attract more established investors. These developments augur well for the scientists’ research, which could help promote increased investment and commercialization of additively manufactured food products.

The researchers in the instant case modified wheat starch by dry heating it over two and four hours at 130˚C. This process caused the starch’s granule size to increase while retaining its original shape. The starch’s molecular grouping did not change. These altered starches were used as hydrogel inks, which were passed through a 3D printer to create test shapes.

These resulting shapes demonstrated higher structural strength at rest, higher resistance to external stresses, higher gel firmness, and lower expulsion of liquids than the control starch. The form produced with the four-hour-treated-starch gel showed the best reproducibility. The dry heat treated starches also showed better texture detail than the control starch.

These results suggest that wheat starches may be able to play a more important role in the food segment of the additive manufacturing industry, notably as structural elements that might allow other food products to break into the space.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996920307560#!

November 23^rd 2020

Beneo unveils first-ever instant functional rice starch for sauces, dressings and fillings.

Beneo has revealed its latest creation for enhancing clean label claims in foods. Remypure S52 P is a precooked functional native rice starch that can help manufacturers produce clean label food preparations, such as cold processed sauces, dressings, dairy desserts and bakery fillings.

The new ingredient delivers soft and creamy textures and product stability, even under harsh processing conditions such as shear and acid, according to Beneo.

Benoit Tavernier, product manager specialty rice ingredients at Beneo, says: “We launched our first Remypure product in 2016 and since then we’ve been focused on developing the range further.”

“In 2018, we launched Rempure S52, and the development of a precooked version was the logical next step in the extension of the Rempure product portfolio.”

Remypure S52 P has performed well in taste trials, with spoonable dressings, ranch dips and bakery creams, says Tavernier.
While Rempure S52 can be used in applications produced using hot and harsh process conditions, Rempure S52 P presents new opportunities for cold processed applications that traditionally have to withstand acidity and/or high shear during preparation, Tavernier explains.

“For example, food dressings, sauces and dips, bakery fillings and dairy desserts, are often produced using a cold process, hence the need to develop an instant functional native rice starch.”

Previously, only selected categories stood out with clean labels, such as baby food, Tavernier highlights.

“However, today, clean label claims are included in a strong majority of products and can be found in many applications such as confectionery, bakery, soups and sauces, to name a few.”

This is due to a rise in consumers seeking out products with natural credentials and clean label ingredients because they regard them as healthier, adds Tavernier.

“At the same time, consumers are looking for tasty, delicious and convenient foods. As a result, manufacturers are increasingly being challenged to create product solutions that meet all these demands,” he continues.

“With our Remypure range and, particularly with Remypure S52 P, we can help our customers rise to the challenge and tap into these growing trends with our native functional rice starches.”

Remypure S52 P is now available globally. As international consumers continue to avoid products that contain artificial ingredients, transparent and simple labels are on the rise worldwide.

As such, “Transparency Triumphs” was recently pegged as Innova Market Insights’ Top Trend for 2021, highlighting a burgeoning consumer appetite for traceable, sustainable ingredients.

Recent research has shown that one in four food and beverage launches carry a clean label claim, and this increases to one in three for sauces and seasonings, Beneo reveals.

Global consumers are looking for authentic and natural ingredients.

For example, half of UK shoppers and three out of five German consumers “intentionally avoid foods and/or beverages with artificial ingredients and look for natural products instead,” according to Beneo.

When asked why consumers were interested in eating cleaner, almost three out of every five consumers (62 percent) said it was because it was healthier.

Rice is seen as a familiar and healthy ingredient by the large majority of consumers.

Furthermore, it brings added creaminess and mouthfeel to any recipe, thanks to the rice starch granules’ unique characteristics.

Remypure S52 P performed well in taste trials, with spoonable dressings, ranch dips and bakery creams tested, all receiving positive feedback, particularly regarding the recipes’ creamy textures and stability.
Applications such as food dressings, sauces and dips, traditionally have to withstand acidity and/or high shear during preparation.

“Remypure S52 P has been developed for food producers searching for an instant clean label texturizer for food preparations that can withstand harsh process conditions while giving an additional creamy aspect to the texture of the end product,” Tavernier explains.

“It is the first rice starch of its kind on the market for this type of application and has already been well received in a range of taste tests.”

“With the now extended Remypure range of functional native rice starches, Beneo is well set to support existing and potential new customers in their development process of various new clean label products.”

Beneo expects interest in natural ingredients and clear and transparent labeling, which will continue to increase in 2021 and beyond.

“Already today, two in three consumers worldwide want to see nutritional information that is as simplified and clear as possible, and the majority of consumers regard rice starch as a natural and familiar cupboard ingredient,” Tavernier continues.

“This is why we believe rice starch holds the key to unlocking new opportunities for product development that responds to the growing transparent labeling trend.”

Additionally, rice starch is a plant-based texturizer that provides mouthfeel and stability to dairy alternatives such as drinks, desserts or spreads. With almost one in two European consumers aiming for less dairy and meat products, plant-based rice starch offers manufacturers opportunities to tap into this growing trend, Tavernier highlights.

Beneo has already invested significantly in its rice starches, with the recent launch of its organic starches and €50 million (US$59.3 million) funding into expanding its Wijgmaal rice starch plant in Belgium, which will lead to a 50 percent capacity increase by March 2022.

Source: BENEO Launches First-Ever Instant Functional Rice Starch – Agro & Food Processing (agronfoodprocessing.com)

November 18^th 2020

Roquette’s innovative plant-based solution unlocks possibilities for veggie softgel market.

Roquette has unveiled Lycagel, a pea starch technology positioned as a pharmaceutical-grade solution for vegetarian softgel capsule formulations.

As it meets both US and EU pharmacopeia standards, Lycagel is the first vegetarian softgel option that is suitable for nutraceutical supplement softgel products, as well as regulated pharmaceutical drug products, according to Roquette.

“Gelatin is currently the gold standard for softgel capsules in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets. However, gelatin is animal-derived and has incompatibility issues with fill ingredients that can shorten softgel shelf life,” says Steve Amoussou-Guenou, innovation project leader of pharma at Roquette.

Lycagel is designed to be easily adaptable to existing gelatin processes, with only minor production modifications needed to handle the higher gel mass viscosity and temperature requirements.

“A key ingredient in the Lycagel system – pea starch – is the first of its kind to market, supporting high performance and attractive softgel solutions through patented technology.”

Amoussou-Guenou continues that Lycagel’s best characteristics are its strength compared to gelatin and its ability to maintain structural integrity during production and throughout storage.

“Unlike gelatin-based capsules, for example, Lycagel softgels exhibit no crosslinking. In terms of visual appeal, Lycagel capsules have a transparent, shiny finish and excellent reproducibility and can be adapted to the manufacturer’s brand,” he adds.

Another advantage is that Lycagel is processed at higher temperatures than gelatin. “In addition to maintaining its structural integrity at higher temperatures, it also removes the temperature limitations experienced with gelatin.”

This allows manufacturers to include ingredients such as pastes or waxes, as well as giving the option to implement multi-ingredient and complex formulations.

Additionally, some manufacturers may feel that the manufacturing process is much slower for plant-based softgels, and therefore inefficient and more expensive than gelatin versions. However, Roquette has found that manufacturing time with Lycagel is equivalent to gelatin.
Lycagel capsules have a transparent, shiny finish and excellent reproducibility.

Roquette has spent the past two years investing in the R&D around Lycagel. The final formation includes pea starch, carrageenan, Neosorb sorbitol and salt.

Unlike gelatin, hydroxypropyl (HP) pea starch does not possess the gelling properties needed to form a homogeneous softgel film.

Therefore, the team needed to explore ingredient combinations to achieve this characteristic, with carrageenan eventually being selected.

However, when mixed together, pea starch and carrageenan are more viscous. In addition, Roquette found that the formulation was jellifying at temperatures below approximately 85°C.

This meant that in comparison to gelatin, the preparation of the gel mass required a higher temperature, as well as for film casting and capsule sealing.

“We also experienced some challenges with capsule sealing during the initial stages of the development – finding that the capsules were leaking, or the films were too thick,” explains Amoussou-Guenou.

The answer to these R&D challenges was eventually found in a specific cooking procedure for the pea starch and carrageenan system. The teams also implemented some equipment adjustments to avoid the immediate jellifying of the gel mass.

“Following multiple testing phases, a new temperature setting profile was established. Our efforts to optimize and adjust the process parameters for Lycagel subsequently removed challenges with capsule leakage and sealing marks,” says Amoussou-Guenou.

The launch is now supported by the validation of its reproducibility at scale when encapsulating varying fills for different capsule sizes and shapes.
The Roquette R&D team developed a specific cooking procedure for the pea starch and carrageenan system.

This gelatin alternative taps into a growing market for plant-based offerings. Indeed, “Plant-Forward” is Innova Market Insights’ second Top Trend for 2021.

The market researcher reports that plant-based or vegan claims on supplements had an average annual growth of 34 percent between 2015 and 2019.

“With demand for plant-based alternatives showing no signs of abating, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturers alike require a solution that can help them meet discerning consumer preferences for sustainable, non-animal derived ingredients,” explains Amoussou-Guenou.

He continues that it’s not just people who categorize themselves as vegetarian that are looking to swap animal-based products for plant-based alternatives, with many omnivorous consumers simply reducing their meat intake.

“Religious reasons, as well as an increased awareness of environmental and health concerns regarding meat consumption, are all contributing factors fueling a global drive toward plant-based products and solutions,” he details.

Source: https://www.roquette.com/media-center/press-center/2020-11-18-lycagel-softgel-alternative-to-gelatin-pharmaceuticals-nutraceuticals

November 17^th 2020

Israeli start-up launches clean label native chickpea starch.

The Israeli foodtech start-up says its new ingredient extracted from chickpeas offers food and drink manufacturers a pure, high-value, functional ingredient.

Foodtech start-up ChickP Protein has launched a new range of native starch developed from chickpeas for food and drinks applications. The new ingredient is non-GMO and a by-product of ChickP protein process using proprietary technology.

ChickP’s technology allows the company to separate and purify the solid components of the chickpea (protein, starch, and fibres), which the Israeli start-up offers to food manufacturers as pure, high-value, functional ingredients.

The launch of the novel starch ingredient follows the successful introduction last year of a line of innovative chickpea isolates specifically designed for plant-based dairy alternative products.

“The inspiration for developing a native chickpea starch was to offer another purified fraction from chickpea – similar to ChickP’s isolated protein, which contains 90% protein,” said Ram Reifen, managing director, founder and chief science officer of ChickP. “We’ve extended the purity approach by introducing our pure native chickpea starch, with more than 98% starch content.”

ChickP says its native chickpea starch eliminates food waste during processing and ensures a sustainable, clean ingredient.

The start-up claims the ingredient has high amylose to amylopectin ratio, with neutral taste and no aroma.

It also claims that due to its narrow granules size distribution, compared with pea and potato starches, ChickP native starch provides better gelling and thickening properties.

As a result, it can be used as a thickening/binding agent in a variety of food applications – soups and sauces, confectionery, dairy, baked goods, desserts, meat, plant-based meat, and many more.

According to Innova Market Insights, the use of specifically identified starches in food and drink launches has increased globally, featuring a 7% increase in year-over-year growth when comparing 2019 and 2018 launches.

Last year, the top category of global product launches tracked with starches was bakery (27%), with corn starch being the leading ingredient among the starches tracked. The top positionings of global product launches tracked with starches last year were no additives/preservatives (17%), gluten-free (15%), and vegetarian (9%).

“The ChickP technical team currently is developing food applications using our native chickpea starch,” said Ron Klein, chief executive of ChickP. “We invite companies to collaborate with us to create new plant-based products that meet all the demands of today’s informed consumers.”

Source: https://www.chickp-protein.com/

October 29^th 2020

Starch manufacturer seeks $2.6M tax break for expansion plans.

An Indianapolis City-County Council committee has advanced a $2.6 million tax abatement request for a starch and sweetener producer that plans to expand the capacity of its facility southwest of downtown.

Chicago-based Ingredion Inc. plans to spend about $60 million to expand its operations at 1515 Drover St., allowing it to add 22,000 metric tons of capacity to meet customer demand. The company manufactures starches, sweeteners, animal feed products and edible corn oil.

The company does not plan to add any jobs but will retain 374 employees who earn an average hourly wage of $33.92. Ingredion expects to dedicate approximately 5% of its abatement savings toward a job training initiative that will increase maintenance technicians’ skill sets.

The company said the expansion is necessary to keep up with North American and global competition for “clean-label” starches, which typically means free from chemical modification.

The project, which has already begun, will play out in phases through 2024. The expansion is taking place within the facility’s existing footprint.

The company has requested a five-year personal property tax abatement. In year one, the abatement would save the company 100%; 80% in year two; 60% in year three; 40% in year four and 20% in the fifth and final year.

The abatement would save the company about $2.6 million over the five-year period. After the tax abatement expires, Ingredion is expected to pay an estimated $2.8 million in personal property taxes annually on the new equipment.

The Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee approved the tax abatement request on Monday night. It now advances to the full city-County Council, which next meets Nov. 16.

Source: https://www.ibj.com/articles/council-committee-advances-tax-abatement-for-starch-manufacturer-expansion-plans

October 28^th 2020

Tate & Lyle to acquire tapioca business in Thailand.

Agreement to purchase 85% shareholding in Chaodee Modified Starch in support of strategy to grow texturant portfolio.

Tate & Lyle PLC (“Tate & Lyle”), a leading global provider of food and beverage ingredients and solutions, announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire an 85% shareholding in Chaodee Modified Starch Co., Ltd. (“CMS”), a well-established tapioca modified food starch manufacturer located in Thailand.

This investment extends Tate & Lyle’s presence in speciality tapioca-based texturants and establishes a dedicated production facility in the main tapioca region of eastern Thailand.  The acquisition will enable Tate & Lyle to offer a broader range of tapioca-based solutions to meet customers’ needs for better tasting and clean label foods in categories including dairy, bakery, snacks, noodles and soup, sauces and dressings.

Tate & Lyle will operate CMS in partnership with the former owner.  Together with its partner, Tate & Lyle intends to invest in the facility over the next three years to increase significantly capacity for higher functionality starches.  The CMS facility will be supplied with substrate by a co-located tapioca starch mill fully owned and operated by Tate & Lyle’s partner.

Nick Hampton, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle, said: “We are delighted to announce this investment to expand our tapioca offering and grow our texturant portfolio.  CMS brings new tapioca capabilities, raw material sourcing expertise and additional production capacity to Tate & Lyle, and expands our presence in the higher growth Asia Pacific region.”

Closing of the transaction will occur when customary approvals have been received.

Notes to Editor:

1. Thailand is at the centre of tapioca production, with over 90% of tapioca starch output globally. Source: LMC, Commoditia, T&L

2. Tapioca is the most popular and fastest growing texturant source in the Asian diet, and the fastest growing starch in new product formulations. Source: Mintel GNPD 2015-2019 CAGR

3. Tapioca has highly desirable functional properties such as a translucent colour, clean taste, and a soft gel-like texture.

Source: https://www.tateandlyle.com/news/tate-lyle-acquire-tapioca-business-thailand

October 19^th 2020

CMT’s 1st series of Starch Europe webinar will keep the industry connected to latest news and highlight the dynamic changes of the starch sector.

Managing Covid impacts, disrupted supply chain & uncertain grain production in EU & Black Sea region.

The EU Farm to Fork Strategy, published on 20 May 2020, is at the heart of the EU Green Deal structure and this strategy closely involves the starch industry.

The strategy aims to create a more robust and sustainable food system.

Currently the starch sector is already an important contributor to an EU sustainable food system through its leadership in the EU bioeconomy across food, feed and industrial application.

How can the EU starch stakeholders further play a role for the new F2F strategy’s successful implementation?

Is the market recovering after a year of Covid 19? How much disruption to supply chains has this caused ? Has COVID taken the attention away from other more pressing issues (crop and animal disease etc) and EU/UK trade negotiations?

One of the ambitious targets proposed by the F2F strategy is for the reduction of chemical pesticide and fertiliser use and increased organic farming to 25% of EU’s agricultural land. However many farmers view this as unrealistic as the policy calls for dramatically increasing food production while scaling up organic farming and slashing synthetic pesticide use, all without any clear plan as to how to address agricultural pests and productivity challenges.

EU grain exports in 2020-21 are predicted to decline according to USDA to 25 million tonnes from 28.8 million tonnes, a drop of 13% year-on-year.

Partially owing to extremely challenging planting conditions ,the big unknown for 2020-21 remains the impact of COVID-19 on the grain balances.

CMT’s 1st series of Starch Europe webinar will keep the industry connected to latest news and highlight the dynamic changes of the starch sector.

Supported by Starch Europe, Jamie Fortescue, Managing Director for the Association will represent the starch stakeholders to share the industry’s important role in the EU Green Deal and Bioeconomy strategy.

Webinar sponsor Suez Water Technologies & Solutions – will share solutions to improve water consumption and energy efficiencies in starch processing

Simon Bentley will give an update on the market with current ongoing Covid 19 – what has shifted within this year and was does it mean for the starch market trajectory.

Rabobank will give an outlook on the grains and oilseeds industry outlook in Europe and the Black Sea region.

Source: https://www.cmtevents.com/aboutevent.aspx?ev=WEB201138&

September 22^nd 2020

R5.35bn starch sale a relief for Tongaat Hulett.

The R5.35 billion sale of Tongaat Hulett’s starch business to Barloworld got the green light after an independent third party, Rothschild & Co, found that no material adverse change (MAC) had occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two companies had reached a deadlock on the agreement for the sale of its starch business to Barloworld in May following the Covid-19 outbreak in the country in March.

Barloworld had said it was reasonably likely that the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of the starch business for the financial year to end March 2021 would be 82.5 percent or less than the Ebitda of the starch business for the financial year to end March 2020 and that an MAC had, therefore, occurred.

Tongaat chief executive Gavin Hudson said yesterday that the group was pleased that the decision by the independent expert had confirmed Tongaat’s belief that a MAC event had not occurred and that the transaction would now go ahead.

“Throughout this process we have continued to work to close out work streams to meet our other obligations under the agreement reached with Barloworld in February this year, so that we can conclude the sale and move forward. It is expected that we will be able to finalise this process by the end of October with the starch business transferring to Barloworld from November 1,” Hudson said.

Hudson backed the asset and said the starch unit was a great business and Barloworld was fortunate to be buying such a valuable asset.

“However, the rationale for the sale remains unchanged – it will help us to continue meeting our debt reduction targets. Tongaat is a high-potential business with a significant asset base, and this decision will ensure that our focus remains on bedding down the turnaround of our organisation,” he said.

Tongaat has been disposing some of its assets in an effort to reduce its huge debt. In June the group also announced the sale of Tambankulu Estates to eSwatini’s Public Service Pensions Fund for R375 million in a share purchase agreement, with the proceeds earmarked to reduce its R13bn debt.

Tongaat’s target is to reduce its debt levels by R8.1bn by March 2021.

Barloworld said it was pleased that the starch business had shown resilience in the face of the economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The business is a highly cash generative, relatively asset light and defensive investment with a leading market position and a strong client base of highly regarded and well established multinational companies. These characteristics have underpinned the resilience of the starch business through the current economic challenges, validating Barloworld’s stated strategy of entering into the defensive consumer foods sector and serving industrial customers as a long term strategic pivot of its portfolio,” Barloworld said.

Barloworld also said it believed that the starch business would continue to show positive momentum into the financial year-end after the government moved the country to level 1 of the lockdown on Monday.

Source: https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/agribusiness/sugar-producer-tongaats-shares-soar-after-impasse-on-sale-of-starch-business-ends-20200922

September 08^th 2020

“Project WaltrAut” — Construction of new roller drying plant is on schedule.

In the past few months, a lot has happened at the Emsland Group’s headquarters in Emlichheim. The construction of the new roller drying plant with autoclave (nicknamed “WaltrAut” for the German Walzentrocknungsanlage mit Autoklav) is progressing rapidly. In addition to necessary excavation and drainage work and the demolition of warehouses, recent weeks have seen the pile foundations successfully set in place.

Because of the peaty subsoil, 150 piles had to be driven up to 20 meters into the ground for WaltrAut’s foundation. On top of that, transformer stations were also installed. The base plate of the plant has been laid and the first walls have been built. Despite the coronavirus epidemic and delivery delays from various suppliers, intensive rescheduling made it possible for the building to be completed shortly after the turn of the year.

Furthermore, the construction of the plant on the company premises has also brought plenty of other tasks with it. Hundreds of tons of steel have to be installed in pipe bridges, which WaltrAut will integrate into the production processes. As part of this huge investment project, large parts of the infrastructure are being overhauled and substantial preparatory work is already being carried out for other major projects to come. “The expertise involved in building this department is being provided by the Emsland Group’s own employees,” explains Florian Schmidt-Hickmann, Process Engineering Project Manager at the Emsland Group.

With all that’s happening, the “skyline” in Emlichheim is growing. The building has a total floor area of about 750 m² and reaches a height of over 31 meters. The integrated stair tower made of reinforced concrete reaches a height of almost 34 meters.
WaltrAut, an investment of over 33.9 million euros, is a new drying plant in which potato and pea starch is physically and chemically modified and dried in pressure reactors to meet the highest demands in technical applications. The extensive product range produced here is used in the surfactant and textile industry as well as in many construction and adhesive industry sectors.

After completion, the most modern equipment and machines will be installed in the new building and assembled into a complete plant. Commissioning is planned for summer 2021.

Source: https://www.emsland-group.de/news/2020

September 07^th 2020

Emsland Group offers new waxy potato starch solution.

EMWAXY® is based on high amylopectin potatoes, containing more than 99% amylopectin, resulting in high quality end products. This natural potato variety is being cultivated through traditional, non-GMO breeding techniques. EMWAXY® is a new commercial available amylopectin potato starch giving improved performance to final products at our customers.

Being specialized in the production, application and supply of vegetable ingredients, the Emsland Group is able to promote constant growth and demand for healthy and genuine ingredients. In close cooperation with their partners, the Emsland Group has now developed high amylopectin potatoes EMWAXY® product range.

By means of contract farming, the Emwaxy potatoes are exclusively grown for the Emsland Group. Therefor the potato meets all the quality requirements of the company. Within the Emsland Group, all products manufactured at all sites are plant based, non GMO, Kosher and Halal.
The EMWAXY® range fits seamlessly with the current product portfolio of the Emsland Group.

The cultivation of this new potato variety is a clear sign that raw material manufacturers still have the ability to truly innovate in the market place. With the introduction of EMWAXY® potato starch, the Emsland Group presents a waxy potato starch, which has an amylopectin content of more than 99%.

Heidrun Lambers, Head of Food Application Technology at the Emsland Group explains “EMWAXY® can provide high transparency, new textures, high viscosity, physical shelf life extension as well as smooth and glossy appealing products”.

In food applications the use of EMWAXY® has next features:
• High viscosity
• Clarity, smooth and glossy appearance
• Clean flavour and bland taste
• Excellent creamy mouthfeel
• New textures, resulting high expanded crispy snack products
• Optimized process possibilities. Lower gelatinization temperature, fast hydration, quicker cooking times and lower energy input in comparison with other starches can be the result.

EMWAXY® is high valuable with a lot of benefits in food applications and offers a good start to create new innovative appealing products. These unique material characteristics of EMWAXY® serves todays trends e.g. easy handling, natural, lower dosage possibilities, non-GMO, kosher & halal, gluten and allergen free as well as clean label opportunities.

Source: https://www.emsland-group.de/news/2020

September 01^st 2020

German personal care major has developed a hair styling blend with saccharose and starch replacing synthetic polymers.

Writing in its international patent, Henkel said it had developed the natural blend using saccharose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and carboxymethyl starch. It said the blend could be used to manufacture hair styling gels, foams, mousse, waxes, lotions or clays.

Hair styling gels traditionally contained synthetic polymers – cationic, anionic, nonionic and amphoteric – and/or waxes; the former of which Henkel said were conventionally sourced from fossil substances like crude oil. It therefore remained desirable to design products made from “renewable raw materials with the least possible use of energy”, the personal care major wrote in the patent filing.

“A quantity reduction or even an exchange of said fully synthetic polymers can, however, only be carried out if the substitute polymers produce the properties desired for the intended use and give the keratin-containing fibres a sufficient, stable hold.”

Henkel said its natural blend – made up of 1-5 wt% saccharose, 3-7 wt% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and 0-3 wt% carboxymethyl starch, with a water content of 60-90 wt% – showed a strong performance, with key hair styling qualities maintained.

“Surprisingly, it has been found that, contrary to expectation, no negative aspects such as plaque formation have been found (…) Other commonly required properties of cosmetic agents for the temporary shaping of keratin fibres, such as long-term hold and low tackiness, remained.”

“…The agents according to the invention have outstanding styling properties that are in no way inferior to or even exceed conventional agents based on fully synthetic polymers,” Henkel wrote.

Positive effects on the hairstyle hold and good application could be achieved if the saccharose (sucrose), hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose and carboxymethyl starch content were kept “within narrower quantity ranges”, it said.

Henkel said it would also be important to incorporate a vegetable oil like wheat germ, jojoba or coconut oil to “give the hair a silky sheen and make the hair more resilient”. The oil component had to be included at 0.05-1 wt%. Vitamins, perfumes and preservatives could also be added.

In addition to the ingredients outlined above, Henkel said it was also possible to work with chemically modified biopolymers for setting agents. Chitosan, for example – a biopolymer obtained from shrimp shell – could be incorporated into the blend as a useful “cheap raw material” that was “available in large quantities”.

“…As already mentioned, the provision of agents based on renewable raw materials is an advantage of the present invention. It is therefore preferred to incorporate only those ingredients into the agents according to the invention which meet these criteria. If necessary, the use of synthetic preservatives may be indicated for legal reasons,” Henkel said.

WIPO Internatinoal Patent No. WO/2020/164769
Published on: August 20, 2020. Filed on: November 11, 2019.
Title: “Natural hair styling gel”
Inventor: Henkel – N. Koomann

Source: https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2020/09/01/Henkel-patents-natural-hair-styling-formulation-with-saccharose-and-starch

July 15^th 2020

Ingredion launches range of PURITY Bio Organic native starches.

Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions to diversified industries, today launched three new organic native starches for the U.S. and Canada, PURITY Bio 201 organic native corn starch, PURITY Bio 301 organic native tapioca starch and PURITY Bio 805 organic native waxy rice starch.

The PURITY Bio range of organic native starches offers food manufacturers a compelling value proposition for converting to a more attractive “organic” corn, rice or tapioca starch label, enabling associated claims. The high-performing, certified organic starches can help manufacturers replace undesirable ingredients in existing products and develop new products with shorter lists of more familiar names to enhance product appeal and cost savings potential.

In food systems, PURITY Bio organic native starches impart a bland flavor and can be dropped into the same food processes where it’s conventional (non-organic) native starch counterparts are used, without any change in functionality or formulation. The new organic native starches are ideal for a wide variety of organic food applications, including yogurt (dairy and plant-based alternative dairy), soups, sauces, dressings, frozen and refrigerated ready-meals, meats, batters and breadings, bakery and confectionery (gummies).

“The launch of PURITY Bio organic native starches builds on Ingredion’s two decades of experience in clean label leadership,” said Jim Low, Ingredion’s vice president and general manager, Systems and Ingredients Solutions. “Our continued investment in an organic supply chain provides food manufacturers with an extensive range of certified organic ingredients to help them attract today’s mindful consumers.”

PURITY Bio 201 organic native corn starch and PURITY Bio 301 organic native tapioca starch exhibit a smooth, short texture when hot, set to an opaque gel when cooled (7% concentration) and form a strong gel after cooled in a cooked dispersion. PURITY Bio 805 organic native waxy rice starch offers superior freeze/thaw stability, high viscosity, excellent water-holding capability, strong adhesion and binding properties, and is characterized by a white color and bland flavor. The three starches can be labeled simply as “organic corn starch,” “organic tapioca starch” and “organic rice starch” respectively.

“PURITY Bio organic native starches, made from corn, tapioca and waxy rice, deliver functionality in organic food processes in place of traditional native starches — no special preparation or equipment needed,” said Patrick O’Brien, Ingredion’s regional platform leader for Clean & Simple Ingredients in the U.S. and Canada. “The launch of this product line, with its unique inherent base characteristics, means that food manufacturers now have access to a broader range of high-performing certified organic solutions for developing on-trend products that deliver the taste, texture and performance that consumers demand.”

Source: https://www.ingredion.us/MeetIngredion/News/Ingredion-Broadens-Organic-Ingredient-Solutions-Lineup.html

July 09^th 2020

50% Capacity expansion of production facility in Belgium by 2022.

BENEO, one of the leading manufacturers of functional ingredients, has announced a 50 percent production capacity increase at its Wijgmaal facility to respond to rising customer demand for its rice starches. A two-stage expansion process valued at $56 million, will lead to increased capacity by March 2022.

BENEO forecasts that the growing demand for natural and clean label products, in applications such as coated confectionery, will intensify in major existing markets, including the Americas and Europe. Rice is widely considered a familiar and recognizable product, with 61% of consumers worldwide regarding rice starch as naturali, making it the ideal ingredient for the development of products that respond to the increasing trend for clean and clearer labels.

Roland Vanhoegaerden, Operations Managing Director Speciality Rice Ingredients at BENEO notes that the nature of the ingredients business is one of long-term thinking and economic resilience. “We fundamentally believe in the value of this investment with demand for rice starch coming from both natural and organic growth, as well as from new projects and applications. One of the key reasons for our confidence is the ‘clean label’ trend, where food manufacturers are moving away from artificial additives and replacing them with natural alternatives, such as rice starch.”

Rice starch is capable of filling up all of the micropores on the surface of coatings due to its very fine particle size. This so-called “smoothing effect” is especially beneficial for confectionery manufacturers during the production process, since it ensures a stable result where edges do not crack or splinter. Additionally, rice starch allows for the preservation of a brilliant white color for months.

Since January 1, 2020, titanium dioxide, which is used to fill microscopic irregularities in coatings, is no longer permitted for use in food products in France. There are expectations that other EU markets may follow the country in banning the additive. “We are already seeing some major companies looking at rice starch and we will soon have a much larger capacity in place to address this rising demand,” Vanhoegaerden explains.

Technical trials by the BENEO-Technology Center have shown that clean label rice starch can also play an important role in a variety of other applications including baked goods and products that need to undergo severe processing conditions, such as sauces and dressings, as well as pet food.

The Wijgmaal plant has a proud 160-year history in the area and BENEO has been significantly investing in the facility in recent years to make it a frontrunner in sustainability. A recent investment into its docking station means that the company can now accept two barges at its plant, rather than one. As a result, two-thirds of rice raw material is now received by barge and just one-third by truck. “The impact is on cost saving, but also on the environment, due to lower carbon emissions and a reduction in traffic. Our factory is in the middle of an urban area and by increasing barge use we can reduce congestion and noise levels in the neighbourhood,” Vanhoegaerden explains.

Rice starch production consists of several phases: rice cleaning, soaking, milling, sieving, separation, dewatering, and finally drying. BENEO’s investment at the Wijgmaal facilities will increase the number of production lines from two to three. The first phase of the BENEO investment will take place at the tail-end of the production process for existing lines. The installation of a third drier and dewatering line allows the company to reduce bottlenecks and further increase efficiency. The second expansion phase will involve the front-end of the production process, starting from soaking through to the separation of the starch from the proteins in the valorization step.

The facility, which currently employs 180 people, will add up to 20 full-time positions during the course of the expansion, as well as offer further work to maintenance and engineering contractors in the vicinity.

BENEO’s Wijgmaal plant, formerly known as Remy Industries, is a true hidden champion in the Flanders region. The factory is the source for more than half of the world’s rice starch, despite the rice crop being primarily imported from South East Asia. The plant was founded by Edouard Remy in 1856 and remained in family hands until the early 20th century. In the early 1990s, a German investor (Rutgers) installed a completely new starch line in a modernization move that reduced operational costs at Wijgmaal. The Remy plant was indirectly acquired by German-headquartered Südzucker in 2001, through their Raffinerie Tienen operations. It became part of the newly formed BENEO Group, when Südzucker founded a new three-pronged ingredients business unit in 2007, together with the legacy Orafti (Oreye, Belgium) and Palatinit (Mannheim, Germany) businesses.

Source: http://www.beneonews.com/Press_Releases/2020/Capacity_increase_Wijgmaal_plant/

July 08^th 2020

Tongaat, Barloworld appoint third party to check for material adverse change.

JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange)-listed companies Tongaat Hulett and Barloworld have appointed Rothschild and Co South Africa as the independent third party to evaluate whether a material adverse change (MAC) had occurred in the sale and purchase agreement terms between the companies.

The sale and purchase agreement relates to sugar manufacturer Tongaat disposing of its starch business to a Barloworld subsidiary, KLL Group, which was first announced in February.

Barloworld in May raised concern about the starch business, believing that Covid-19-related impacts on the earnings of the business had resulted in an MAC to the terms of the agreement.

The industrial group said it was reasonably likely that the starch business would achieve 82.5% lower earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the financial year ending March 31, 2021, compared with the year ended March 31, 2020.

Tongaat, however, disagrees that an MAC has occurred.

The companies, therefore, decided to refer the matter to an independent accountant to determine if such a change had taken place.

South Africa’s competition authorities have this week given their approval for the transaction, which cannot be completed until the MAC matter is resolved.

Source: https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/tongaat-barloworld-appoint-third-party-to-check-for-material-adverse-change-2020-07-08

July 07^th 2020

Tongaat Hulett welcomes approval of Starch business acquisition by Barloworld subsidiary.

Agriculture and agri-processing company Tongaat Hulett said today it was pleased at the decision by South Africa’s Competition Tribunal to approve the acquisition of its Tongaat Hulett Starch business by the KLL Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barloworld.

It said the decision was the third approval in the jurisdictions relevant to the transaction, with the Botswana Competition Commission and the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa (Comesa) Competition Commission having already approved the transaction without conditions.

The final approval is awaited from the Indonesian Competition Commission, probably in the first week of August.

Tongaat chief executive Gavin Hudson said the approval by the SA Competition Tribunal had been achieved within anticipated timelines, despite the impact on the process of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is good news and means we can focus on closing the final conditions relating to the deal,” he said.

“These involve obtaining the consent of our lenders, and the resolution of the MAC (material adverse change) event that Barloworld has called,” he said.

In May, Barloworld indicated it believed a material adverse change had occurred in relation to the sale of the starch business, but on Tuesday Tongaat said it remained “firmly of the view that a MAC has not occurred”. The matter has been referred to an independent third party for determination.

Hudson said the company was still committed to finalising the disposal of the business, one of a range of initiatives Tongaat Hulett has initiated as part of its broader business turnaround process.

“The successful execution of any of these transactions, or a combination of them, will ensure we can deliver on our strategic business partnerships; step-changing our transformation initiatives, protecting employee jobs and helping support the economies of the countries in which we operate,” he said.

Tongaat Hulett Starch is Africa’s largest producer of starch, glucose and related products using maize as its raw material at its five mills.

Source: https://www.africannewsagency.com/business/Tongaat-Hulett-welcomes-approval-of-Starch-business-acquisition-by-Barloworld-subsidiary-26123336

June 30th 2020

Tropical plants could provide clean label starch solution.

The international starch production sector for the food industry is somewhat restricted in the use of chemically modified starches due to country-specific regulations. Therefore, concentrated efforts are needed to identify starch sources with functional characteristics that are similar to chemically modified starches. From this perspective, the potential of five unconventional tropical food plant species is discussed: Canna edulis, Cyperus esculentus, Dioscorea bulbifera, Hedychium coronarium, and Xanthosoma sagittifolium. These tropical food plants can be grown using rustic agronomic management and have high productivity and easily extractable starchy tubers, roots, or rhizomes, which may open possibilities for the substitution of these native starch sources for chemically modified starches in food products.

Starch is the main reserve substance in plants, and it stands out as an abundant, nontoxic, renewable, and low-cost food ingredient. Starch accounts for about 80–90% of all polysaccharides present in human foods. Billions of dollars are spent annually worldwide on the marketing of starch products that serve a wide range of industrial segments, and starches are a major component in food product applications, as either ingredients or food additives.

Corn, potato, wheat, and cassava starches are the most widely used starches in the food industry, serving as thickeners, colloid stabilizers, gelling and volume agents, adhesives, moisture retainers, texturizers, and fat substitutes . In their native form, applications for starches are restricted because they usually have unwanted functional characteristics. They produce thin, elastic, and cohesive pastes, mainly due to their high hygroscopicity, rapid swelling, loss of viscosity, high tendency to retrograde, low shear strength, and heat treatments.

To overcome these limitations, modification processes are often employed. Chemical, physical, enzymatic, or a combination of these processes are currently employed to obtain customized starch products that meet the requirements for specific food applications.
Chemically modified starches are the most widely used. However, the use of new chemical reagents in starch modification is restricted by country-specific regulations that have increasingly stringent limits related to consumer and environmental protections and occupational safety. As a result, the food industry has been looking for new ways to modify starches or for native starches that have functional characteristics of interest, such as high paste clarity and freeze-thaw stability. In this context, both the food industry and farmers are increasingly interested in the identification and development of plants that produce native starches with physicochemical characteristics similar to those of modified commercial starches.

Unexplored tubers, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, and corms from tropical plants are emerging as important alternative sources for the starch industry, which could replace chemically modified starches and open new starch markets. In addition, temperate regions have limitations in their ability to cultivate a large variety of starchy tropical plant species due to climatic and environmental factors, creating the promising potential for growth of these species in tropical regions.

Source: https://www.cerealsgrains.org/publications/cfw/2020/March-April/Pages/CFW-65-2-0018.aspx

June 25^th 2020

Emsland Stärke finds cooperation in partnership with plant-pased JUST Egg.

With another forward-looking cooperation, the Emsland Group presents its work with the American company JUST (Eat JUST, Inc.). The company applies cutting-edge science and technology to create healthier, more sustainable foods like the award-winning, plant-based product marketed as JUST Egg in the United States. This is an approach that fits perfectly with the extensive activities of the Emsland Group.

Entirely in the spirit of its corporate philosophy “Using nature to create”, the Emsland Group uses renewable raw materials such as potatoes and peas to produce high-quality products. Overall, each year the company processes more than two million tons of these crops across the seven locations in Germany. The Emsland Group is the largest producer of potato starch in Germany.

Innovation is at the heart of the work of this globally operating company. In addition to its technical work, the company particularly focuses on food applications. In addition to starches and starch derivatives as well as potato flakes and granules, proteins and fibres also play a significant role. Potatoes and peas are the base material. As part of a new process, the Emsland Group also uses mung beans to derive starches and proteins. This takes place in the external factory in Kyritz. “During this newly developed process, the protein is extracted from the mung beans, leaving behind the starch-fiber proportion,” explains Andre Heilemann, Project Lead for Process Engineering at the Emsland Group. “Using our know-how, we are beginning to further separate this blend of starches and fibres to create high-quality starches and fibres.”

Thanks to its special composition, the mung bean starch which is produced has many interesting qualities in addition to its use in Asian noodles. Thus, in addition to derivatization, new clean label concepts can be realized in food production. Heidrun Lambers, Head of Food Application Technology at the Emsland Group, holds the view that the special gel and textural qualities of mung bean starch offer very promising prospects for exciting developments. In addition to use in foods, applications in the technical field are also being considered.

In the partnership with JUST, the focus is on processing mung bean protein. The protein is the main ingredient in JUST Egg and will contribute to ensuring that JUST Egg has a reliable, efficient, and expandable production infrastructure.

The Emsland Group also sees the cooperation with JUST as a very promising alliance to expand the product portfolio and to create additional sales opportunities in the food industry.

Source: https://www.emsland-group.de/news/2020/1009-cooperation-in-partnership-with-plant-based-just-egg

June 17^th 2020

BENEO has announced the expansion of its rice starch ingredient portfolio with a new organic solution.

The launch of the new addition, comprising an organic waxy rice starch, Remyline O AX DR, paves the way for BENEO to strengthen its market leading position.

Consumers worldwide are increasingly seeking out organic products, with figures showing they have become more important to 1 in 4 consumers in the last year and many willing to pay a premium price for them.

This rising demand has been driven by the growing consumer perception of organic products as healthy and natural, and therefore an intrinsic part of a healthier lifestyle.

Organic products and ingredients are also considered a vital element for ethical and sustainable purchasing behaviour, a key trend being seen within the food and beverage industry.

Around the world, there are high expectations for organic products, with a compound annual growth rate of 2% and 2.6% in value predicted between 2019 and 2022 in Europe and the USA respectively , the two largest organic markets.

The addition of BENEO’s new organic waxy rice starch, Remyline O AX DR, completes the existing portfolio of rice starches with the availability of organic solutions for both regular and waxy rice starch. Launching globally from July onwards, Remyline O AX DR is the first of its kind to be brought to market, opening up new possibilities for product development.

As a waxy rice starch, it contains no amylose and therefore delivers better stability and less syneresis, making it easier to maintain a stable texture throughout a product’s shelf life.

Remyline O AX DR is suitable for fruit preparations, as well as meat and poultry applications. Technical trials by experts at the BENEO-Technology Center have shown positive results for these applications, as well as for improving the texture of creamy desserts and yoghurts.

Commenting on the launch of Remyline O AX DR, Marc-Etienne Denis, Commercial Managing Director Specialty Rice Ingredients at BENEO stated: “The launch of BENEO’s new organic waxy rice starch is an important milestone for us as it means we can now offer our customers organic variants for both our waxy and regular rice starches.”

“We see great potential for this new solution, especially within meat and poultry, as consumers worldwide place special emphasis on organic products when buying meat.”

Source: https://nutraceuticalbusinessreview.com/Category/Ingredients

June 05^th 2020

Tongaat not backing down in battle with Barloworld over R5.3bn starch deal.

Sugar producer Tongaat Hulett on Friday rejected concerns raised by Barloworld over the profitability of its starch business, which Barloworld is in the process of buying for R5.3 billion.

Tongaat’s chairperson, Louis von Zeuner, in a special general meeting maintained the business was profitable despite concerns about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on operations.

Last year, the KwaZulu-Natal based firm was embroiled in a financial scandal that showed accounting irregularities resulting in inflated profits. Its shares plummeted and were subsequently suspended from the JSE for a period of seven months. Since returning to the market, the company’s stock price has fallen more than 65% and, due to heightened debt levels that are above its market capitalisation, it has had to sell non-core assets.

According to Nolwandle Mthombeni, Investment Analyst at Mergence Investment Managers, the sale of the business would help Tongaat to plug its debt hole.

“Tongaat needs to pay off its debt in order for debtors not to sent them into liquidation and get the debt restructured. The disposing of the assets is part of the agreement they have with the creditors.”

The sale has been placed in jeopardy as the Barloworld subsidiary believes the impact of Covid-19 effected “material adverse changes” on Tongaat’s starch business, which may heavily impact earnings.

The parties remain deadlocked on the transaction and have not yet agreed on an independent accountant to assess the business. In a statement on Thursday, Barloworld said the transaction “cannot complete” until such time as it has been finally determined whether or not a material adverse changes have occurred.

“The parties have differing views and a process would be followed to assess the facts in this matter. Tongaat’s starch business remains an asset that performs well,” said Von Zeuner.

He added that the company, which is the continent’s largest produce of starch, glucose and a wide range of related products, needed to be ready for any eventuality. It is yet to release its financial results for 2020, but is working to reduce its debt by R8.1 billion by March 2021.

“Shareholders will appreciate that although we have not announced financial results for 2020….we can safely say that we have made significant progress in relation to the turnaround strategy we have embarked upon,” said Von Zeuner.

“We have met our commitment to our lenders to date, also we are a business today with improved cash flow.”

Tongaat’s starch and glucose operations have four wet-milling plants, in Kliprivier, Germiston and Meyerton and Bellville. The group’s South African sugar operations generated an operating loss of R283 million against a loss of R121 million in 2018, according to its latest financial report.

Source: https://www.news24.com/fin24/Companies/Agribusiness

June 05^th 2020

Tate & Lyle announces major sustainability investment at its facility in Lafayette South, Indiana, U.S., on World Environment Day.

Tate & Lyle PLC, a leading global provider of food and beverage ingredients and solutions, is pleased to announce a US$75 million investment in a new natural gas-fired combined heat and power system to deliver significant environmental and economic benefits at its Lafayette South corn wet milling facility in Lafayette, Indiana, US. This investment, announced on World Environment Day, will support the delivery of Tate & Lyle’s ambitious new sustainability targets for 2030 published last month including to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, eliminate coal from its operations and reduce water use.

The new gas turbines will generate electricity and steam to power and heat the facility, delivering a significant improvement in energy and operational efficiency. The new co-generation system will replace the site’s coal-fired boiler, delivering around 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and around 5% reduction in water use.

Work at the site to transition from a coal-fired boiler to new gas turbines is being undertaken with strict safety protocols that include social distancing and other protective measures.

This investment follows completion of a similar system at Tate & Lyle’s corn wet mill in Loudon, Tennessee in 2017. Tate & Lyle has a six-year, US$150 million productivity programme, which is now in its third year, and this investment is part of delivering that programme.

Travis Montoya, Plant Manager at Lafayette South said: “This major investment will make our facility more efficient and directly benefit the local community through improved air quality, decreased water use and less truck traffic. At Lafayette South, we have a strong track record of energy efficiency, having received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR accreditation for five consecutive years; this is a real source of pride for the local team.”

Melissa Law, President of Global Operations at Tate & Lyle, added: “A key pillar of our purpose of Improving Lives for Generations, is to care for our planet and to help protect its natural resources for the benefit of future generations. This project at Lafayette South is a great example of our purpose in action and will help us meet our ambitious new environmental commitments, driving important energy-saving and environmental benefits.”

Source: https://www.tateandlyle.com/articles/4

June 04^th 2020

Ingredion debuts new starch for Asian markets.

Ingredion has launched Precisa Cream 7310 starch, a cold-water swelling starch, that delivers an instant thickening effect to a variety of oil- and water-based applications. Specifically, the starch is ideal for salad dressings and sauces, which have seen an increased demand in the region fuelled by the rise in westernized diets and the demand for convenience at home.

Precisa Cream 7310 starch was developed to help manufacturers and foodservice operators meet increasing consumer demand for high-quality dressings and sauces. Using the new starch, manufacturers will deliver superior texture and visual appeal with stable viscosity throughout the shelf life. A versatile ingredient, the starch is also suitable for providing enhanced texture in bakery fillings and premixes, says Ingredion.

“As we foresee more consumers shifting to home cooking, deliveries and takeaways post-pandemic, manufacturers will be looking to win consumers with variety, quality, convenience and affordability. The change in consumers’ lifestyles provides opportunities for new product launches, such as reduced-fat sauces and dressings,” explains Ai Tsing Tan, Innovation Director, Asia-Pacific. “This starch is specifically designed to help our customers lower oil content in their recipes at an optimized cost,” she adds.

“We have responded with agility, producing this starch in Asia to deliver a high-quality ingredient that addresses our customers’ product development needs. This also allows them to enjoy the benefit of proximity with better control of the supply chain and a shorter lead time,” comments Rishan Pillay, Vice President and General Manager for ASEAN and India.

Source: https://apac.ingredion.com/searchresult.html?content-types-search-tag=&q=precisa

June 03^rd 2020

High-Performance texturisers enable manufacturers to meet growing consumer demand for “Natural” products.

Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions to diversified industries, today launched a new addition to its range of clean label texturizers, NOVATION® Lumina functional native starches.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches are specifically designed for light-colored applications with subtle flavours. The texturisers’ neutral colour and flavour profile give manufacturers the ability to maintain the most appealing qualities of their products – even in the most delicate food applications.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches deliver viscosity and gel strength comparable to modified starches, provide excellent freeze/thaw and shelf life stability, and have high process tolerance – making them ideal for products that undergo harsh processing conditions.

Of the countries that have provisions in place to regulate the term “natural”, NOVATION Lumina functional native starches meet the criteria of a natural food ingredient in the UK, France and Ireland, as well as associated EU legislation and the global ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS 19657).

More consumers are shopping for clean and simple labels globally than ever before. According to an Ingredion proprietary study, “natural,” “all natural” and “no artificial ingredients” claims are the most influential factor in consumer purchasing decisions.

Ingredion research also reveals that flours and starches rank in the top 10 of the most consumer-accepted ingredients. Labeled simply as corn starch, NOVATION Lumina functional native starches are also gluten-free, non-GMO and do not require allergen labeling. Manufacturers should carefully consult regulations specific to all target markets.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches provide neutral flavor and color, enabling formulators to develop creamy, smooth textures without impacting light colors or delicate flavors of finished products. The starches are ideal for a wide range of food applications, including yogurts, dairy desserts and custards, dairy drinks such as drinkable yogurts and flavored milks, white sauces including cooking creams and ready meals, dressings, soups (ready-to-eat) and fruit preps.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches are produced using Ingredion’s proprietary, innovative technology. The launch represents the first of many product introductions to be based on this proprietary platform.

Sources: https://www.ingredion.us/MeetIngredion/News/ingredion-launches-novation-lumina-functional-native-starches.html