China at the coal face for protein innovation
A story about how scientists from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences hit upon a ground-breaking protein innovation method using methanol derived from coal ranked well in our leaderboard.
Despite being a global leader in pig and aquaculture production, China faces a significant protein resource shortage, and the country actively seeks alternative, cost-effective approaches to secure a stable protein supply.
Led by Professor Wu Xin, Chinese researchers turned to biotechnological synthesis to address this challenge. After exploring various pathways, the team homed in on industrial fermentation using methanol from coal as a raw material—a cost-effective alternative to traditional protein biosynthesis.
Coal is turned into methanol via gasification. A specific strain of Pichia pastoris yeast is then used to ferment the methanol to produce a single-cell protein. This method boasts a dry cell weight and crude protein content of 120g/liter and 67.2%, respectively.
The microbial proteins produced through this method have a robust amino acid profile, along with vitamins, inorganic salts, fats, and carbohydrates, claimed the researchers.
Photo credit: GettyImages/Monty Rakusen