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Fungal fermentation for natural food colouring
CategoriesSustainable News

Fungal fermentation for natural food colouring

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The global food system accounts for over a third of annual greenhouse gas emissions. And the problems don’t stop at sustenance-free ingredients: even food colouring contributes to emissions, especially those derived from petrochemicals. Danish biotech company Chromologics hopes to change this, proving that this aesthetic additive can instead be environmentally friendly. 

Instead of extracting colours from high-value raw materials like tomatoes, potatoes, insects, or beetroot, to create natural food colourings, Chromologics harnesses a fungus to create a low-carbon, natural red powder. Along with sugar and other nutrients, Chromologics ferments the fungus in water, which makes it produce a red colour. The company then filters away the fungus before processing the remaining fermentation liquid into a concentrated red powder.

The result is a pH- and temperature-stable, tasteless, water-soluble, vegan food dye – called Natu.Red – that uses renewable materials at a high production rate. And according to Chromologics, this concept can quickly become circular by running the fermentation process on green energy and recycling the water. 

Chromologics recently raised €12.6 million in seed funding, of which €7.1 million will accelerate the commercialisation of its natural red food colouring. 

Springwise has previously spotted other innovations aimed at revolutionising the food industry, including research that shows food can be grown using artificial sunlight, and a mycelium farm that creates an alternative to bacon.

Written By: Georgia King

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Tackling climate change with forest fungal networks
CategoriesSustainable News

Tackling climate change with forest fungal networks

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Much of the focus on the use of nature to capture carbon has remained above ground – on forests and trees. But ecologist and climate scientist Dr Colin Averill argues that the role of an “entire galaxy” below our feet has been ignored. Soils are made up of millions of species of bacteria and fungi and this microbial biodiversity is essential to healthy plant growth – and efficient carbon capture.  

Dr Averill’s team in the Crowther Lab at ETH Zürich has spent years documenting fungi’s impact on tree growth, finding that restoration of underground fungal communities can significantly accelerate plant growth and carbon capture. To develop this concept further, Dr Averill founded Funga, a startup that plans to restore fungal biodiversity to accelerate carbon sequestration in forests. 

Funga will use DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate profiles for a healthy fungal microbiome in around 1,000 different forests. This will help it identify the right combination of wild fungi in each location to achieve accelerated tree growth and the highest amount of carbon sequestration. Funga will also establish around 1,000 hectares (about 2,500 acres) of forest and soil fungal communities – creating an ‘ideal’ environment for carbon removal. 

Funga has recently closed a $4 million (around €3.8 million) seed funding round and is working with forest landowners and the foresters to make fungal microbiome restoration a reality. 

A growing number of researchers and innovators are focusing on the role of microbes, and especially fungi, in cutting carbon emissions and moderating climate change. Springwise has spotted the use of fungi as a meat replacement, and the application of biome science to create heat-resistant coral.

Written By: Lisa Magloff 

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Biohacking against fungal attack – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Biohacking against fungal attack – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Fungi are a type of organism that can cause enormous agricultural losses. And many plants weakened by climate stress are more susceptible to fungal infection. Conventional techniques for treatment and prevention involve toxic fungicides, which can have a detrimental effect on the environment and human health. As a result, there is an urgent need for alternative methods of control. One promising approach has been provided by researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The approach involves an environmentally safe alternative that tricks the pathogens’ chemical communication with plants. The goal is to biologically ‘hack’ the process – disrupting the pathogen’s ability to infect the plant and cause disease.

The aim of the project is to develop a new generation of highly specific and effective crop protection products based on reactivating plants’ immune responses. This could help to reduce the use of synthetic pesticides and increase the sustainability of agriculture. In addition, these new methods provide an effective way to combat harmful fungi without causing harm to the environment.

During the study, researchers found that fungi detect specific stress signals from plants and then use their own signal substances to suppress the plants immune system.. The team then identified molecules that could be used to reactivate the immune response, allowing the plant to fight off the infection. To develop the method, about 20,000 fungus strains and 6,000 plant species were used.

The project featured an interdisciplinary research network of botanists, fungal genetic scientists, microsystem technologists, chemists, and professionals in agricultural science. Additional participants included the Universities of Freiburg, Strasbourg, the Institute of Biotechnology and Drug Research (IBFW), and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Switzerland. Funding was provided by the “Interreg Oberrhein” cross-border EU program.

Other innovations spotted by Springwise that combat the negative effects of fungi include non-toxic emulsions and smart wrapping papers capable of killing E.Coli and various fungus species.  

Written By: Katrina Lane

23rd August 2022

Email: kirsten.hennrich@kit.edu

Website: .klima-umwelt.kit.edu/english

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