Starch Pros

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/