Solae Making Headway on Magnetic Protein Separation

ST. LOUISSolae has reached major milestones in its ongoing, four-year research project, called MagPro2Life. The aim of the research is to use magnetic particles to extract beneficial components during processing of food.

The major milestones, according to the company, include scale-up of a pilot scale magnetic centrifugation process, and the granting of multiple patents (to DuPont) for both the process and equipment.
"This technology, even though in the early stages, could be a game-changer for how proteins are separated, resulting in enhanced functionality and nutrition. Achievement of these milestones is significant because this novel technology has never been applied in the food industry," said Torkel Rhenman, Solae CEO. "It could be very flexible in separating many different protein sources, producing proteins with unique properties and health benefits."
For example, in a soy or fermentation broth, the company says, it is a challenge to separate small amounts of the beneficial proteins, and therefore, it is difficult to produce high purities economically. The new technology can overcome drawbacks in membrane and chromatographic separation technology. This new magnetic particle separation process would provide cost-savings, and these specially produced particles can be used to selectively separate out the high-value component, producing higher purities and yields with high nutritional value.
This project will lead to new specialty ingredients that no one is able to economically produce with the current technology," said Sarah Martin, senior director of applied research at Solae. And the new process will allow production of specialty proteins for significantly lower than the current cost of production."