Technologies for cost-effectively making fodder yeast enriched in Omega-3

Summary

We are developing technologies for cost-effective, large-scale production of yeasts with balanced protein and Omega-3 fatty acids for human, animal and fish consumption. These technologies enable yeast production at very low capital and operating expenses (CAPEX and OPEX) at any scale, from 1000 tons per year of yeast (20 IBC modules) to many millions of tons per year of yeast (large numbers of IBC modules).

Our two main technologies are a patented method for growing yeast without bacterial contamination and a low-cost modular foam fermenter integrated with this contamination control technique.

Market for Yeast

The current world market for yeast, both for baking and animal nutrition, is dominated by four companies:

  • Lesaffre Group (France) - Estimated revenue around $2 billion

  • Angel Yeast Co., Ltd. (China) - Reported revenues of about $2 billion

  • Lallemand Inc. (Canada) - Private company, estimated revenue from $1.5 billion to $5 billion

  • AB Mauri (United Kingdom) - Estimated revenue around $2 billion

These legacy companies all use 100 year old technologies for producing yeast using submerged fermentation in batches and thus face market disruption from new technologies.

Golden Market Opportunity

We estimate that we can produce yeast for significantly less than the price of these legacy yeast companies by using our patented contamination control technique together with our innovative foam fermenter. In addition, we can produce a more valuable yeast with increased amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids and a more complete protein (more methionine + cysteine). We’re looking for partners with access to low-cost sugars and urea, so that we can together take significant market share from these legacy companies.

As demand for bioethanol goes down as transport becomes electrified, and as the public is made aware of the health problems of consuming sugars, the demand for sugars will continue to go down.

It is also clear that there will be an excess of sugars and starches in the world because farmers will need to continue to produce these in large quantities. If there are new markets for these sugars (i.e. from growing low-cost yeasts) production of sugars could even increase.

This future excess of sugars and starches is a golden market opportunity to use sugars and starches to produce low-cost baker’s yeast and fodder yeast. This lower cost of yeast can significantly expand the market for fodder yeast in animal and fish nutrition.

Technical Solution

The key technical challenge is to cost-effectively produce yeasts with balanced amino acid profiles and enriched in Omega-3 fatty acids. We believe this can be solved with a foam fermenter that performs continuous aerobic fermentation at high concentrations of yeasts while using an innovative contamination control technique.

We are using two yeasts - Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida utilis (Torula). These yeasts have a long history of being “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) for human, animal and fish consumption.

All of these yeasts can be grown in continuous fermentation with a variable amount of fatty acids and proteins, where you can tune the sum of fatty acids and protein to comprise 50% of the dry weight of the yeast. When making yeast for feeding fish, a higher percentage of fatty acids can make it possible for this yeast to displace fish meal. The yeasts also contain higher amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids than when using submerged fermentation.

Health Science

The scientific community recognizes that one of the most serious health problems in the world is the large amount of carbohydrate in most people’s diets - mainly from sugars and starches. These health problems are especially acute in the USA and India, where there are problems with Type-2 diabetes and other related metabolic disorders.

Recognition of these health problems caused by sugar consumption is causing reductions in demand for sugars. The scientific community is recognizing the need for increased protein consumption, and yeast is one of the best sources of balanced protein in the diet.

Yeast is also rich in B vitamins and can be produced with our foam fermenter with increased amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid), which is also critical to the human diet.

In addition, Candida utilis can be grown in a high-sulfate environment to produce 2-3% methionine + cysteine, which provides a full range of amino acids for humans, poultry and fish.

Soy protein concentrate (SPC) has more anti-nutritional factors (ANF) than deactivated Candida utilis single-cell protein (SCP) when fed to salmon, chickens, and humans. SPC’s diverse ANFs (trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid, lectins, saponins) consistently impact nutrient utilization and health across these species, while Candida utilis SCP presents fewer and less severe concerns, making it a preferable option in terms of ANF content.

Given that the cost of soy protein concentrate is comparable to Candida utilis single-cell protein, when factoring in the higher anti-nutritional factors of soy protein concentrate and the better amino acid profile of Candida utilis, the clear choice for fish, chicken and human feed is Candida utilis single-cell protein.

Contamination Control

Bacterial contamination is often the biggest technical problem when growing yeasts at an industrial-scale.

We’ve invented a patent-pending technology for preventing contamination by using urea as the sole nitrogen source along with titanium heat exchangers to reduce leaching of nickel. No acid wash or antibiotics are needed to prevent 100% of all bacterial contamination.

The main yeasts we are using with this invention are Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida utilis (Torula)

This technique allows fermentation at pH 5 to pH 7 without bacterial contamination.

Foam Fermentation

Our main invention is an aerobic fermenter that uses foam to provide large amounts of oxygen to microorganisms fermenting in the liquid part of foam.

This was first widely used at the sulfite paper mill Zellstofffabrik Waldhof near Mannheim, Germany between 1939 and 1949. This type of fermenter is commonly called a Waldhof Fermenter.

Our invention improves on the Waldhof fermenter in several significant ways, and when used with our contamination control invention allows continuous production of yeast for months at a time.

The building block for a large-scale fermenter is the 1 m3 Intermediate Bulk Carrier (IBC).

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are essential to human life and are only provided in our diet by plants, animals, some yeasts and some algae.

When people consume too much Omega-6 fatty acid, people are more likely to have heart problems, high blood pressure, dementia and many other health problems.

Our foam fermenter can produce Candida utilis (Torula) yeast with tunable amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, which has been shown to be very nutritious for fish and chicken, and thus makes a more valuable feed for fish and chicken.

Protein from Biodiesel Waste Glycerol

A byproduct of biodiesel production is waste glycerol, which is a low-cost feedstock for growing Candida utilis yeast. About 50 million tons of waste glycerol are produced per year.

It’s possible to make low-cost protein from waste glycerol by growing Candida utilis yeast using our foam fermenter and our contamination control technique.

This yeast is high in protein and can be tuned to have variable amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids.

A high sulfate growth environment increases the methionine + cysteine content to 2-3% of dry weight, making Candida utilis a complete protein source for humans, poultry and fish.

Presentations

Ed Hamrick made a presentation at GrainTek 2023 in Moscow (English) (Russian). You can watch the presentation here.

Ed Hamrick made a presentation at ProteinTek 2023 in Moscow (English) (Russian). You can watch the presentation here.

Ed Hamrick made a presentation at ProteinTek 2024 in Moscow (English) (Russian).

Who are we?

Hamrick Engineering was founded in 2013 by Edward B. Hamrick.

Edward (Ed) Hamrick graduated with honors from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) with a degree in Engineering and Applied Science. He worked for three years at NASA/JPL on the International Ultraviolet Explorer and Voyager projects and worked for ten years at Boeing as a Senior Systems Engineer and Engineering Manager. Subsequently, Ed worked for five years at Convex Computer Corporation as a Systems Engineer and Systems Engineering Manager. Ed has been a successful entrepreneur for the past 25 years.

Alex Ablaev, MBA, PhD is Sr. Worldwide Business Developer. Alex previously worked for Genencor's enzymatic hydrolysis division, and is the President of the Russian Biofuels Association as well as General Manager of NanoTaiga, a company in Russia using CelloFuel technologies in Russia.

Alan Pryce, CEng is Chief Engineer. Alan is an experienced professional mechanical engineer - Chartered Engineer (CEng) – Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) - with 10+ years’ experience in the mechanical design and project management of factory automation projects in UK and European factories. He has been a Senior Design Consultant and project manager for over 30 years working for Frazer-Nash Consultancy Ltd involved with many design and build contracts in the military, rail, manufacturing, and nuclear industries.

Maria Kharina, PhD, is Sr. Microbiology Scientist. Maria has a PhD in Biotechnology and is a researcher with 10+ years of experience. Maria was a Fulbright Scholar in the USA from 2016-2017.

Dr. Ryan P. O'Connor (www.oconnor-company.com) provides intellectual property strategy consulting and patent prosecution. Dr. O'Connor holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Minnesota. He has filed more than 1000 U.S. and PCT applications and is admitted to the Patent Bar, United States Patent & Trademark Office.

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