Innovation award for natural flavour molecule

The 2010 Frost & Sullivan Global Technology Innovation Award in Food Ingredients has been presented to Isobionics.

Isobionics produces Valencene Pure - a natural flavour molecule for orange notes - based on a unique fermentation process.

Valencene Pure is produced from a biotechnological process developed and implemented by the company. Combining fermentation with biotransformation, this method addresses the issue of easily producing natural flavour profiles.

"Isobionics can rightly claim to be the first company to have targeted a molecule rationally for synthesis using biotransformation technology," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst DrKaushik Shankar. "Isobionics' unique process has enabled the introduction of Valencene Pure within three years from the date of patenting the idea, indicative of the robustness of the process and the confidence of the company in the technology."

Consistent supply and high cost have been the main factors impeding the shift from synthetic flavour compounds to natural and nature identical flavours across food applications. There is a nearly tenfold decrease in anticipated cost of using the natural flavour molecule compared to orange-derived valencene and the controlled fermentation method employed for production uses glucose.

"By recreating the exact molecule that is obtained from Valencia oranges, Isobionics has added value to a product that is normally dependent on agricultural production cycles," adds Dr Shankar. "Standardisation is achieved both on molecular consistency and pricing.

"Food manufacturers can make use of Valencene Pure to create natural grapefruit notes in their products without having to worry about quality issues that plague natural extracts," remarks Dr Shankar. "While concentrations of the active molecules are consistent, there are little or no associated impurities with the product like insecticide residues, which are common in natural products. This results in greater customer confidence."

The technology reduces the amount of energy embodied in the production process for valencene, producing a more environment friendly product.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development.