3 Killed, 1 injured in blast at cassava starch factory.
The explosion happened around midnight Thursday due to an electrical short circuit in the facility’s packaging room.
Three people were killed in a blast at a cassava starch factory, according to Phạm Tấn Lợi, head of the Tân Châu District Division of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, during a press briefing on Friday.
One person sustained mild injuries and is currently receiving medical treatment.
The explosion occurred around midnight on Thursday due to an electrical short circuit in the facility’s packaging room.
The scene of the accident at Trường Thịnh Co Ltd’s factory in Tân Châu District of Tây Ninh Province. — Photo baotayninh.vn
The technical malfunction resulted in the explosion of the starch pipeline, causing heavy equipment to strike four workers in the room at the time.
They were rushed to the emergency department at Chợ Rẫy Hospital, a major central medical facility in HCM City, but unfortunately succumbed to their injuries on Friday afternoon.
Autopsies were conducted, and the bodies have been handed over to their respective families for funeral arrangements. Local authorities have also visited the families to offer condolences.
The police are conducting a follow-up investigation at the accident scene.
Unilever seeks Kenyan partner in new corn starch production venture.
British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company, Unilever Plc has moved to revive a local corn starch production venture as part of its localisation strategy aimed at cutting raw material costs to shore up margins that are under pressure on the slowing detergents business in the East and West African region.
Ben Lang’at, the company’s executive vice-president in charge of the East and West African region said the corn starch production plan is at an advanced stage and discussions are ongoing to get into a joint venture with an undisclosed company.
Corn starch, an extract from maize grains, is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or soups and to make corn syrup and other sugars. It is also a component of many cosmetics and oral pharmaceutical products. It has been used as a lubricant in surgical gloves.
“Kenya produces a lot of maize, these (corn starch) are not the type of things that we should be importing, so we need to work on this and also focus on localising our raw materials in all aspects,” Mr Lang’at said in an interview.
“We need to make sure that this kind of raw materials (corn starch) that are common to our base products like Royco are available locally. So we are working with different partnerships to ensure that that happens. It (joint venture deal) is quite in an advanced stage,” he said in an interview.
Unilever currently offers a wide range of products in various categories, including beauty and wellness, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice cream products.
However, the market for home care products— including laundry and washing detergents—in the East and West African region is facing headwinds as a result of the proliferation of cheap imports, forex shortage, and civil conflicts in some economies.
Unilever Kenya is looking at the new line of business as a fresh stream of revenues as well as an opportunity to create an alternative market for maize grain for Kenyan farmers.
The proposed wet milling operations will produce sweeteners, corn starch, and corn syrups. “You know Kenya used to have a company that was producing corn starch, those kind of things are the things we need to really work to make sure that they are there. It (corn refining company) was there and it went out, I don’t know what happened,” Lang’at said.
“We will continue focusing on local sourcing to ensure that we have a sustainable business. Localisation is very big for us,” he added.
Corn Products Kenya Limited (CPC), a local subsidiary of an American grocery products company CPC International Inc. shut down its Eldoret-based plant in July 2012, after close to four decades of operation, citing rising operational costs, competitive environment, and the influx of cheap imports.
More than 500 workers who depended on the company directly and indirectly were rendered redundant.
Before its closure, CPC was buying over 15,000 bags of maize from farmers every month.
The National Cereals and Produce Board has been facing challenges of inadequate budgetary allocation to purchase maize from farmers, most of whom have opted to sell the grains to private millers and traders who offer better prices and prompt payment.
Kenya’s annual maize requirement is estimated at 52 million bags to cater for human consumption, the manufacture of livestock feeds, seed multiplication, and the manufacture of other products.
Unilever is keen to grow and expand its Kenyan market with hopes of transforming the country into a sourcing hub of its other regional markets in East and West Africa.
“Kenya is one of our best markets where we still have a full range of offerings that have had strong performance in the last few years,” Lang’at said. “The plans that we have for Kenya, first, is to grow the business significantly. There is room for expansion. There is room for us to execute even more strongly than we are doing right now; that is to expand our route to market and ensure that we have innovations that are relevant.
Serbia’s Almex invests 3.5 mln euro in Jabuka starch factory.
Serbia company Almex invested 3.5 million euro in the automation of production at its Jabuka starch factory in the central city of Pancevo, the economy ministry said.
The economy ministry is providing 701,135 euro in incentives for the investment project, economy minister Slobodan Cvetkovic said in a press release last week.
According to the Serbian business registry, Almex is controlled by Miroslav and Srdjan Aleksa, who own 60% and 40% of the company. It was established in May 1992.
Ingredion gets grant for system and method for recycling sodium sulfate in starch process.
Ingredion has patented a system for treating process water from starch processing by recycling a concentrated sodium sulfate solution. The system includes a membrane bioreactor, cationic ion exchange unit, and high pressure filtration unit with a molecular weight cut off of less than 200 Da.
A recently granted patent (Publication Number: US11884568B2) discloses a system and method for treating process water from a starch process containing sodium sulfate. The system includes a membrane bioreactor unit to reduce the chemical oxygen content of the process water, a cationic ion exchange unit to receive the permeate, and a high-pressure filtration unit to concentrate sodium sulfate in the permeate to obtain a solution with high sodium sulfate content for recycling back into the starch process. The high-pressure filtration unit has a molecular weight cut off of less than 200 Da, ensuring efficient concentration of sodium sulfate.
Furthermore, the method outlined in the patent involves treating the process water in a membrane bioreactor unit, followed by treatment in a cationic ion exchange unit, and concentration of sodium sulfate in a high-pressure filtration unit to obtain a concentrated solution for recycling. The method also includes steps to reduce the chemical oxygen demand of the process water and discharge a permeate with low sodium sulfate content. The patent highlights the importance of recycling sodium sulfate into the starch processing process multiple times, with specific parameters such as operating temperature and pH range provided for optimal performance. Additionally, variations in the molecular weight cut off of the high-pressure filter are mentioned, emphasizing the flexibility of the system and method.
Turkey’s Tosmur pours EUR 75 mln to double starch production capacity in Romania.
Turkish group Tosmur, which opened a starch factory in eastern Romania at Medgidia in 2022, will invest another EUR 75 million (including a EUR 28 million state grant) to double the factory’s production capacity.
Medgidia, Romania
“Now we process 400 tonnes of maize/corn per day [the factory’s full capacity] and sell the starch in 75 countries,” said Arslan Ozgun, the general director of Omnia Europe – the Romanian subsidiary of the Turkish group.
In 2023, the Romanian factory’s business amounted to EUR 98 million, according to Ziarul Financiar.
The Tosmur Group is controlled by Turkish businessman Fatih Tosmur and is involved in the production of starch.
Starch from oil palm trunks for food and non-food applications to reduce oil palm footprint.
Oil palms appear not only to be a source of palm oil, they can also contain large amounts of other valuable substances, such as starch. However, the palm oil industry is often accompanied by undesirable deforestation. That is why Wageningen University & Research is conducting research with PalmStarch into extracting starch from the trunk of the palm tree. So that the oil palm will yield more than oil, and less land will be needed for the production of other starch-containing crops. This could be a step towards a more sustainable oil palm industry.
Project leader and researcher Ben van den Broek explains why a study like PalmStarch is so important: “Those plantations are already there, forests were often cut down for them decades ago. We cannot reverse this, but we can use the plantations much better and more sustainably. Within the SustainPalm program, we work with Indonesian partners on all kinds of innovative measures to make palm oil extraction more sustainable. One option is to get more out of the whole oil palm, which means less land is needed and no forest clearing is needed in other places. We are investigating this in PalmStarch.”
When an oil palm plantation becomes old and produces less oil, it is cut down and farmers usually leave the trees on the land. These pieces then serve as nutrition for the soil. This is of course quite a circular approach, but the effect on healthy soil is limited: nutrients are largely washed away, and sugars and starch decay. Just like the rest of the trunk. While there is still value to be gained from that. Using some of these trunks therefore hardly has any negative consequences for the soil, but it does save on other cultivation and provides useful products.
Parts of the trunk are already used for veneer production (sheet material), but it also contains a lot of starch that is now lost. “If you can also extract some starch from the old palm trunk, you don’t have to plant another field of cassava or potatoes, for example,” Van den Broek explains. “We estimate that there is about 5 tons of starch in the trunks per hectare. Previous research shows that this is easy to extract, because it is concentrated in the upper part of the trunk, where the content is approximately the same as in starch potatoes.” This is not possible and not necessary for all trunks. Van den Broek: “It is becoming too labor intensive to extract starch from all the trunks. In addition, not all trunks contain the same amount of starch. So you only want to work with the palms that contain the most starch.”
But how do you know which palm can be used for starch and which cannot? Van den Broek and his colleagues are working on a measuring device that indicates within a few seconds whether there is a lot or little starch in it. Van den Broek: “You have to be able to decide quickly: leave it or take it with you?” Avoiding delay is also important for isolating the starch. “If we leave it for too long, the starch is converted into glucose sugars,” explains Van den Broek. “Starch has more value than glucose, although glucose can be used to make sugar (gula). We are also researching this in the SustainPalm program.”
The project is also investigating the most effective way to extract starch from the palm. That’s not that easy. Van den Broek: “There is a lot of silica in the palm trunk. This causes the equipment to wear out faster. Think of cleavers that quickly become blunt.” At the end of this project, the researchers hope to have found a solution for this too. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a mobile factory that produces starch in plantations that are being replanted. This can then be moved to a next location.
One of the reasons Van den Broek is so enthusiastic about this project is its application. “We can make several products from this starch, such as ingredients for food and biopolymers for packaging material. It is also used for breeding insects. How wonderful if, in Malaysia, for example, they can use their own starch for this without additional land demands. But also that we have discovered a new source of starch that has different properties, and therefore also potential for all kinds of new applications.”
This research is carried out on behalf of TKI-AgriFood, and is a collaboration between Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, Bio-tec, Ebbens B.V., PaperFoam, Profina Plywood, Tate & Lyle Solutions and PT Bio Cycle Indo.
Source: https://edepot.wur.nl/640436
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Biodegradable super absorbent polymer made from starch.
A scientist here says he has developed an inexpensive, biodegradable super absorbent polymer (SAP) derived from starch that could help resolve the growing environmental problem concerning disposable diapers.
The starch and a natural organic compound that can be found in such items as lemons are mixed with a tiny amount of water to perfect the SAP, which can be broken down by micro-organisms, he said.
Biodegradable super absorbent polymer made from starch.
The technology of Hiroshi Uyama, a polymer chemistry professor at Osaka University, can absorb water and artificial urine up to 20 times the original weight of the substance.
“I previously tested other materials, but their costs were 100 times or so higher,” Uyama said. “The latest achievement was a result of me becoming accustomed to handling starch.”
At his lab featuring an electron microscope, a specialized camera, a strength analyzer and other instruments, Uyama showed how the whitish solid powder takes in so much fluid.
The mesh-like structure of the SAP quickly soaked up a drop of water.
“I have succeeded in creating better interstices,” Uyama said about the SAP’s porous design. “That was fortunate.”
The production method is kept secret, as Uyama is seeking a patent for the technology.
But the relatively easy technique could lead to the efficient mass production of the new SAP variant, he said.
SAP, an essential absorbent for paper diapers, is often fashioned from polyacrylic acid, a non-biodegradable chemical.
According to the Environment Ministry, disposable diapers accounted for 5.2 percent to 5.4 percent of general waste in fiscal 2020. The ratio is expected to reach 6.6 percent to 7.1 percent by fiscal 2030, given the graying of society.
Uyama’s lab, which has been cooperating with private businesses and other entities to produce biodegradable plastics and films from starch, is using its expertise to tackle the diaper problem.
Researchers from around the world are developing new bioplastics and other articles at the laboratory.
The lab’s objective is to make disposable diapers exclusively from biodegradable ingredients. These diapers could be fully composted instead of being incinerated alongside ordinary trash.
“The problem of waste from paper diapers has emerged as a serious concern in society,” Uyama said. “I hold out hope we can help reduce the volume.”
Starch breakthrough: discovery could revolutionize human health and industry.
Recent research has illuminated the longstanding question of how starch granules develop in the seeds of Triticeae crops – including wheat, barley, and rye. This discovery holds the potential to benefit numerous industries and human health significantly.
Starch in wheat, maize, rice, and potatoes is a vital energy-giving part of our diet and a key ingredient in many industrial applications from brewing and baking to the production of paper, glue, textiles, and construction materials.
Starch granules of different crops vary greatly in size and shape. Wheat starch (and those of other Triticeae) uniquely has two distinct types of granules: large A-type granules and smaller B-type granules.
Wheat starch granules observed under the Scanning Electron Microscope. Large A-type and small B-type granules are visible. Credit: Brendan Fahy/Nitin Uttam Kamble
The ratio of A- and B-type granules can affect the quality of wheat-based foods, such as bread and pasta. The two types of granules also present a problem for the starch manufacturing industry because many of the smaller B-type granules are lost and therefore wasted during the milling process. Further, too many B-type starch granules in barley can cause a hazy or cloudy appearance in beer because they do not get digested and filtered out during the brewing process.
Breakthrough in Starch Granule Research New research published in the journal The Plant Cell by the group of Dr. David Seung at the John Innes Centre has made a breakthrough in solving this problem.
The team used genomic and experimental techniques to show that A- and B-type granules are formed by two distinct mechanisms.
By identifying an enzyme involved in B-type granule initiation and by then using conventional plant breeding techniques to remove this protein, they were able to produce wheat with low or no B-granules – with no penalties on plant development and without reducing the overall starch content.
Implications and Industry Perspectives Added to previous studies by this group which have shed light on the shape and formation of A-type granules, the discovery has major implications says the first author of the study Dr. Nitin Uttam Kamble: “We discovered that the ubiquitous enzyme, (PHS1) is crucial for the formation of B-type granules in wheat. This is a scientific breakthrough because decades of research on this enzyme have failed to find a clear role for PHS1 in plants, and it shows that the A- and B-type granules of wheat form via different biochemical mechanisms. We can now use this knowledge to create variations in starch for different food and industrial applications.” Ezoic
Dr. David Seung, a group leader at the John Innes Centre added: “Industry does not generally like heterogeneity; it wants something nice and even to process smoothly, and having these different types of starch granules in wheat has always represented a challenge.
“So, for us to discover the enzyme responsible for making the smaller granule population and to be able to use our breeding platform to reduce the number of B-type granules will hopefully be of great interest to many industry users.
“Combined together with our previous work, we now have a panel of diverse, novel wheat starches that vary in granule morphology, and these have diverse physical and chemical properties. We now invite businesses to work with us to investigate the potential benefits of these starches, such as in milling, pasta- and breadmaking.”
The Role of Starch in Diet and Industry Starch is the main dietary carbohydrate in food eaten across the globe and consists of tiny semi-crystalline granules formed of simple sugar chains. In cereals starch granules form in the endosperm part of the seed.
As a raw material, starch is used in wallpaper, textiles, building materials, pharmaceuticals, glues, and thickeners.
Wheat and its relatives contribute more than one-third of starch used for European industry purposes. Potato and maize starch have different compositions and granule morphology to those in the Triticeae.
Over the years industry has gone to the expense of salvaging methods to solve the problem of mixtures of large A-type and small B-type granules including using multiple filtrations to catch granules lost during processing. Removing the requirement for these processing steps will reduce costs and improve product performance.
Future lines of inquiry will be how the size of granules affects starch digestibility, cooking quality, nutritional value, and the impact of dietary starches on human health.
Starch used in industry is often modified using physical and chemical methods to achieve the specific properties required for each end-use. Having ways to modify starch in plants may avoid these costly and often environmentally unfriendly modification processes.
In addition to industrial benefits, the clarity about how starch granules are differentially initiated opens doors to a greater understanding of the role that starch has in human diet and health.
Reference: “Initiation of B-type starch granules in wheat endosperm requires the plastidial α-glucan phosphorylase PHS1” by Nitin Uttam Kamble, Farrukh Makhamadjonov, Brendan Fahy, Carlo Martins, Gerhard Saalbach and David Seung, 18 August 2023, The Plant Cell. DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koad217
