Seeking new technologies to effectively remove proteins and/or polyphenols from dried plant material

We are looking to identify new processes or technologies which are able to effectively remove / extract proteins and/or polyphenols from dried plant materials, with the aim of using the remaining material in a consumable product. The currently used extraction process is technically difficult to scale up for commercial supply and uses large quantities of water making it unsustainable for long term use.

The desired technology for this protein extraction can be physical, chemical or biological but should fulfil the following criteria:

• High yield of the remaining material after the extraction process
• Simple and potential to be an economic process
• Preferably the original form of the plant material is maintained after the process, but this is not critical.
• The plant material must be suitable for human contact at the end of the process

The client has previously worked with enzymes for extracting proteins from the plant material, but lowering the enzyme residues to the recommended exposure limits for human contact was a major concern so there is a strong preference for solutions which are not enzyme based. However, cold temperature enzymes do remain of potential interest. Whilst the client is primarily focused on commercial scale processes, or processes that can be economically scaled, we are interested to learn of emerging techniques for protein and/or polyphenols removal from research institutions.

Technologies of interest could come from the following industries, amongst others:

• Pharmaceutical
• Biotech
• Food and Beverage
• Chemicals
• Any industry with the need to separate out proteins for further downstream processing

Our client is a £multi-million consumer products company committed to ensuring their products remain at the forefront of sustainability and technical performance. They are continually investing in product development and have the necessary R&D facilities to develop appropriate innovative technologies, for global markets. We are willing to consider any reasonable commercial arrangements including licensing in, purchasing, strategic alliances and partnering arrangements.

Opportunities

• Technology transfer
• Seeking technical partners
• Intellectual property and patents