Award details

Process improvement to enable economic production of prebiotics and demonstration of efficacy in feeding trials (PIPP)

Reference	BB/P004849/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Joseph Gallagher
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr David Neil Bryant, Professor Charles Newbold
Institution	Aberystwyth University
Department	IBERS
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	194,263
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/03/2017
End date	30/11/2018
Duration	21 months

Abstract

unavailable

Summary

Grass is a readily available feedstock for the production of prebiotics, a market worth $1.4 Billion. Grass juice fructans, converted to short chain molecules (SCM) by hydrolases, show prebiotic activity greater than commercial comparators (assessed using an artificial gut system). Market take-up is hampered by production cost and demonstration in animal systems. In this project the hydrolases will be cloned into a bacterium. This will greatly improve process economics and avoid the major cost of expensive enzymes. The SCMs produced will be used as feed supplements in mice trials. The prebiotic activity of these molecules will be assessed by examination of the mice microbiome using next generation sequencing. Additionally, economic viability, market opportunities, regulatory issues and supply chain logistics will also be determined ensuring a likely take-up of this technology in the market place.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Industrial Biotechnology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Follow-On Fund (FOF) [2004-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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