A Century's Breakthrough in Upcycling Lignocellulosic Biomass: Embion Technologies, Hard-tech Spin-off of the EPFL, Disrupts Nutrition Innovation with Sophisticated, Complex-prebiotics for Immunity

Embion Technologies SA is a hard-tech spin-off of the EPFL, with a disruptive and novel platform technology that aims to enable the global transition to zero waste via the circular bioeconomy. Embion's initial focus is on transforming low-value food and agricultural industry byproduct streams to affordable next-generation prebiotics – nutrition for human and animal microbiome. We demonstrate here that the company's proprietary technology is simple and flexible and can be applied to a wide variety of feedstocks to extract tailored products with specific fingerprints. Embion's technology unlocks the natural hidden value of fibers, fats, proteins, minerals, and polyphenols within these byproduct streams to bring different functional food ingredients to the food, feed, and beverage market

Gelling capacity of cell-disrupted Chlorella vulgaris and its texture effect in extruded meat substitutes

Microalgae attract increasing interest in enhancing the nutritional values of plant-based foods. However, alterations in the final product’s color (by green algae) and mushy texture can be induced. In this study, we incorporated yellow Chlorella vulgaris (Cv) in pea protein-based meat substitutes and aimed to minimize properties alteration by using wet and disrupted Cv biomass. The cell wall disruption, done by high-pressure homogenization (HPH) at 150 MPa and initial biomass temperature below 10 °C, significantly increased the gelation capacity. The effect was confirmed by (i) a 10x increase in the apparent viscosity of 14% (w/w) Cv suspensions, and (ii) a 2x increase in the storage modulus (G’) of 9:1 (w/w) pea protein isolate - Cv gels. Furthermore, the HPH-treated Cv was successfully incorporated (10% (w/w)) into pea protein-based meat substitutes produced with high-moisture extrusion cooking without altering their visual appearance, hardness, or anisotropy index. Finally, spray drying or fractionation steps of the HPH-treated Cv did not improve protein gels, or meat substitutes produced thereof. This study demonstrated that disrupted Cv is a promising nutritious and sustainable ingredient for meat substitutes