Conagen launched a new natural preservative made through fermentation: p-Coumaric Acid.
natural preservatives
Conagen (Bedford, MA) has launched a new natural preservative made through fermentation: p-Coumaric Acid (PCA). The preservative expands on the natural preservatives offered by Conagen’s commercialization partner Blue California. Last year, Blue California and Conagen announced the commercialization of a 98% high-purity rosmarinic acid natural preservative. With demand for “clean-label” products on the rise, natural preservatives offer formulators to make food, beverages, personal care, and cosmetic products without artificial ingredients, while also preserving shelf life.
“Our PCA expands the toolbox for product developers looking for a scalable, low cost-in-use, natural solution for increasing the shelf life of food without interfering with the flavor of their products,” said Conagen's vice president of innovation, Casey Lippmeier, PhD.
PCA is a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial compound found in all plants, but predominantly in peanuts, tomatoes, carrots, basil, and garlic. It’s also a key constituent of wine, vinegar, and honey. Conagen uses an innovative precision fermentation process that enables the cultivation of micro-organisms programed to create sustainable, natural ingredients with high purity that is priced competitively with synthetic PCA, says the firm.
“A sustainable source of PCA is also desirable as a precursor for different biopolymers and other high-tech biomaterials made with ‘green chemistry,’” adds Lippmeier. “The novel polymers and co-polymers which can be made by fermentation-derived PCA enable the development of environmentally safer bioplastics and new applications in biomedicine.”
In industrial application spaces, PCA works well in coatings, composites, adhesives, and polymers for biomedical, transportation, aerospace, electronics, and packaging.
Cracking the code: Advancements in calcium absorption and nutritional understanding
July 23rd 2024Recent research conducted by ILSI U.S. and Canada – a global, nonprofit federation dedicated to advancing precompetitive research in the food, nutrition and health realms – and partially funded by Balchem, has shed light on how to improve predictions of Ca bioavailability across different food matrices.