EnginZyme, a leading developer of cell-free bioproduction processes, recently announced the groundbreaking result of testing a process to produce a rare sugar. This clearly shows that this low-calorie rare sugar, called kojibiose, can be further scaled up for commercial use.

Powerful, low-calorie alternative to sugar

Kojibiose is naturally present in honey. With its prebiotic properties and sugary taste and texture, it is a powerful alternative to regular sugar. The kojibiose pilot was conducted using enzymes discovered by Professor Tom Desmet of Ghent University in combination with EnginZyme's technology platform at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant in Ghent, Belgium.

The pilot, which ran from April to August 2021, was intended to prove the feasibility of commercial-scale production. The result showed that compared to fermentation processes, the space-time yields are significantly higher, successfully demonstrating the potential for a highly cost-efficient process. This reinforces the promise of sustainable bio-production of a multitude of products.

“We have made an important breakthrough as we can now demonstrate our ability to design, create and validate a commercial process on a large scale,” said CEO and co-founder Karim Engelmark Cassimjee. "Delivering these significant product volumes, already at our early stage of development, strengthens our leadership position in cell-free bioproduction and is an important step towards broad use of our technology."

“EnginZyme's cell-free bioproduction technology is impressive and we were very pleased with the smooth scale-up and robust performance of the technology,” said Muriel Dewilde of Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant.

For more information, contact Nele Ameloot, Business developer Biomolecules:

• nele.ameloot@ugent.be