BIOTECHNOLOGY
The Solar Foods team
Te liquid is then fed continuously with tiny bubbles of hydrogen and CO2
, as
well as other nutrients including nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and potassium – which Vainikka describes as ‘the same nutrients that plants normally take through roots from the soil.’ “Te microbes eat these ingredients
to grow and multiply. As the liquid grows thicker, some of it is continuously
removed and dried. Te dried powder is the whole cells that are up to 65% protein. Te macronutrient composition of the cells is very similar to that of dried soy or algae,” he says.
Although the company currently operates a pilot plant in Espoo capable of producing in the order of 1kg of Solein per day, it recognises that another 1,000 times scale-up is needed in order to commercialise the protein – a feat Vainikka describes as ‘an intellectual, scientific and technological challenge.’ “Even if technical challenges are
Muesli package from Solar Foods
overcome, there is also a lot to do in terms of food product development, factory engineering and construction as well as novel food permitting,” he says. Although coy about revealing the exact details because of ongoing IPR processes, Vainikka points out that the wider reason for the company’s activities is a strong belief that the disconnection of food production from agriculture and aquaculture provides us with the opportunity to ‘produce food even in space.’ “On Earth, this disconnection comes with several environmental
Pluristem’s cell therapy product
benefits. So far the result is we have been able to grow protein in a skid-scale system. Tere is much left to do, but it really works. We have an initial concept for producing protein for a crew of six,” he says.
“Te next steps depend upon the
availability of public funding. As a start-up we cannot complete it based on 100% VC funding,” he adds.
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