SBIR Phase II: Microbial Production of Selected Anthocyanins

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目旨在开发和生产具有成本效益的天然花青素着色剂，作为合成染料的替代品。食品、膳食补充剂和饮料市场已果断转向使用天然着色剂。目前可用的技术不足以有效地满足当前和预计对天然着色剂的需求。ChromaDex工艺利用微生物生产技术大量生产高纯度、低成本的花青素，用作天然着色剂。这项研究的广泛影响跨越了几个行业领域。出于对健康和安全的考虑，越来越多的合成染料和着色剂正在从市场上撤出。花青素天然着色剂消除了消费者对在食品和药品中使用合成产品日益增长的健康和安全担忧。这些着色剂可用于天然染料敏化太阳能电池，作为抗氧化膳食补充剂等。通过发酵方法生产的每磅花青素可以取代相当于一磅的合成着色剂，有助于节约世界石油供应，保护环境并提供安全的食品。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop and cost effectively manufacture natural anthocyanin colorants as alternatives to synthetic dyes. The food, dietary supplements and beverage market has decisively shifted towards utilizing natural colorants. Technologies available currently are not adequate to meet the current and projected demand for natural colorants cost effectively. The ChromaDex process utilizes microbial production techniques to manufacture high purity, low cost anthocyanins in large quantities for use as a natural colorant. The broader impact of this research spans several industry segments. More and more synthetic dyes and colorants are being pulled from the marketplace due to health and safety concerns. Anthocyanin natural colorants eliminate the health and safety concern that is growing among consumers over the use of synthetic products in food and pharmaceuticals. These colorants can be utilized in natural dye sensitized solar cells, as anti-oxidant dietary supplements etc. Every pound of anthocyanin produced by the fermentation approach replaces an equivalent pound of synthetic colorant and helps to conserve the world's oil supply, protect the environment and provide safe food products.