Evolva launches fermentation-derived valencene

10-Dec-2015 - Last updated on 10-Dec-2015 at 14:14 GMT

"We can ...offer producers a sustainably produced valencene that is both high quality and affordable," says Stephan Herrera of Evolva.

Related tags Flavor

Evolva will begin producing valencene orange flavour through fermentation allowing for large scale production at a fraction of the cost of traditional extraction methods, it says.

The fermentation-derived flavouring is free from contaminants as well as being both sustainable and affordable, says the company.

Valencene is a natural flavour and fragrance made from the peel of oranges but traditional extraction requires over 1 million kilograms of oranges to obtain 1 kilogram of valencene. It is used in food and beverages is also used as an intermediary to product grapefruit flavour nootkatone.

Vice president of the Switzerland-based biotech company, Stephan Herrera, told FoodNavigator: "The market for valencene is broad-based, but still only just beginning to expand into mass market commercial applications. We can differentiate ourselves in this space by offering producers a sustainably produced valencene that is both high quality and affordable."

Meanwhile, Evolva CEO Neil Goldsmith said valencene was chosen as it fitted with Evolva's business strategy of focussing on products with supply chain issues.

The company is also developing stevia, vanillin and other ingredients through microbial fermentation. Saffron, a proprietary product, is at the most advanced stage while earlier this year it launched nootkatone citrus flavour and fragrance ingredient.

It is currently working on an ingredient in partnership with French company Roquette but details of the ingredient are not yet known.

Commercial samples of valencene will be shipped to prospective clients in January, the company said.