A new public-private consortium, ECOFERM (Efficient Continuous Fermentation for Alternative Proteins), has been launched to develop more efficient and sustainable technologies for producing precision-fermented proteins.
The consortium brings together NIZO Food Research, BFF, DAB.bio, Vivici, dsm-firmenich and Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences. Its goal is to develop and demonstrate a continuous fermentation platform that combines in-situ biomass retention with controlled cell agglomeration.
Continuous fermentation can improve reactor productivity and reduce downtime associated with cleaning, filling and sterilization. However, conventional systems such as chemostats continuously remove both product and microbial biomass from the reactor and can face challenges including contamination, genetic instability and declining process performance.
ECOFERM will investigate whether controlled cell agglomeration can retain microbial biomass in the bioreactor without energy-intensive separation technologies such as membranes or centrifuges. Product can then be continuously harvested while the microorganisms remain in the reactor.
The technology will be demonstrated using precision-fermented proteins such as beta-lactoglobulin. The project will investigate biological and engineering parameters, process stability and scale-up, including optimization of the DAB.bio FAST reactor.
According to the consortium, the aim is to establish a scalable platform that can increase productivity, reduce resource consumption and improve the economics of precision fermentation. The project is supported by TKI Agri & Food (project LWV26909).