Industrial saponins

该项目的目的是将皂素生产引入工业生物技术领域，使这种多样化的生物表面活性剂在所需的规模、结构特异性和成本下可用于商业开发，首先用于家庭和个人护理（HPC）。我们已经证明，皂苷可以与传统表面活性剂协同作用，降低洗衣洗涤剂中清洁性能所需的总表面活性剂水平，并且这种混合物在低温下特别有效。皂苷是植物衍生的三萜或甾体表面活性剂。目前，皂苷的商业可用性有限，主要来源于天然植物材料。这种供应规模不足，结构专用性有限，对于联合利华洗衣粉的预期用途来说过于昂贵。仅联合利华的浓缩洗涤剂业务就需要每年100吨0.1%水平的皂素和20%的产品范围渗透率。领先的皂素供应商Desert King从天然提取物中仅生产20吨活性皂素。此外，我们已经证明，某些皂素结构明显比其他结构更有效。目前皂苷的来源是天然提取物，由不同结构的皂苷组成。我们的IB创新将为最有效的皂素结构提供可观的富集。目前的商业皂素价格过于昂贵，每公斤35美元，用于除优质产品以外的任何产品。我们预计IB将成为一种更具成本效益的皂素供应途径。

The aim of this project is to bring saponin production into the domain of industrial biotechnology to make this diverse group of biosurfactants available for commercial exploitation at the required scale, structure specificity & cost, in the first instance for home & personal care (HPC) use. We have already demonstrated that saponins can synergise with conventional surfactants to reduce the total surfactant level required for cleaning performance in laundry detergents, and that such mixtures are particularly effective at low temperatures. Saponins are plant-derived triterpenoidal or steroidal surfactants. Saponins currently have limited commercial availability, being sourced from natural plant materials. This supply is deficient in scale, is of limited structure specificity and is too expensive for Unilever's intended use in laundry detergents. Unilever's concentrated detergents business alone would require 100 tonnes pa of saponin at 0.1% level and 20% product range penetration. Leading saponin supplier Desert King produces only 20 tonnes active saponin pa from natural extracts. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that certain saponin structures are significantly more effective than others. The current sources of saponins are natural extracts and comprise a heterogeneous mixture of saponin structures. Our IB innovation will enable considerable enrichment for the most effective saponin structures. Current commercial saponins are too expensive at $35/kg for crude extracts for use in anything other than premium products. We expect IB to be a more cost effective route to saponin supply.