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FAO reports precision fermentation as key to sustainable food innovation
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Monday, 09 June, 2025, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
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Marco Marenchino
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The global food industry faces a critical turning point. Traditional farming harms the environment through deforestation, biodiversity loss, and rising greenhouse gas emissions. With climate change and population growth, innovative solutions are urgently needed. Precision fermentation offers a sustainable alternative to conventional food production.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reports precision fermentation as a key technology for a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food system. It produces high-value food compounds with much lower environmental impact than traditional agriculture, easing pressure on land and water, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and diversifying protein sources.
Precision fermentation uses engineered microbes to produce specific proteins and ingredients, enabling the sustainable creation of meat substitutes, dairy-free products, and enzymes. While complex structures like whole muscle are hard to replicate, it excels at producing simpler proteins like casein or minced meat components.
Why precision fermentation is needed more than ever
Environmental factors
Traditional agriculture, especially livestock farming, is a major contributor to environmental degradation, accounting for about 16.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, along with deforestation and excessive water use. Precision fermentation offers a sustainable solution by using genetically engineered microorganisms to produce proteins and compounds typically sourced from animals. This method reduces the need for land, water, and feed, significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions and addressing ethical concerns linked to animal farming. According to the FAO, precision fermentation can efficiently produce food ingredients with a much smaller environmental footprint compared to conventional agriculture.
Food security
As the global population nears 9.7 billion by 2050, food security is crucial. Precision fermentation offers a scalable way to produce high-quality proteins and nutrients without using land or freshwater, supplementing traditional farming. This reduces resource use and boosts food system resilience, making it vital for global food security.
Technological advancements
Recent innovations have made precision fermentation more feasible and cost-effective, leading to UK’s approval of lab-grown meat for pet food, a key step toward wider acceptance. Regulatory support boosts investment, accelerating advancements in synthetic biology and genetic engineering. This allows microorganisms to produce tailored proteins, fats, and enzymes, enabling innovative food products that meet diverse nutritional and functional needs.
How precision fermentation provides solutions to industry challenges
Stability of products and compounds
The stability of precision fermentation products is vital for commercial success. Advanced bioprocessing ensures compounds remain active and effective throughout their shelf life by carefully controlling fermentation and post-processing conditions. Thermal treatments like heating, drying, and extrusion improve digestibility, flavour, and texture, but can degrade proteins and nutrients. Therefore, maintaining thermal stability is crucial in developing alternative protein foods.
Particle size of fermented products
Particle size significantly impacts the texture and functionality of fermented food products. Controlling fermentation parameters allows manufacturers to produce ingredients with consistent particle sizes, improving sensory qualities and ensuring batch-to-batch consistency. Smaller particles create a smoother texture and better digestibility, while larger particles, over 30 microns, can cause undesirable greasy textures. Analysis with diffraction technology is essential in food production, especially for precision fermentation, where precise particle sizing is critical to avoid costly failures.
Uniformity in product composition
Uniform composition in fermented products ensures consistent quality and performance. Precision fermentation produces ingredients with uniform molecular structures, resulting in predictable behaviour during food formulation and processing. Protein stability is crucial to prevent aggregation and yield loss. Light scattering tools measure zeta potential, particle size, and protein stability, detecting aggregation and aiding formulation optimisation. These tools also help ensure consistency in enzymes and flavour compounds.
Purity of fermented foods
Purity is vital in food ingredient production. Precision fermentation reduces contamination by producing compounds in controlled environments, yielding high-purity products that meet strict safety standards. Controlling elemental contamination and salt levels is key to protein quality. X-ray fluorescence detects heavy metals and ions at ppm levels, preventing protein damage. Precise mineral additions, such as calcium for dairy and iron for meat, ensure nutritional and functional integrity.
Precision fermentation stands at the forefront of sustainable food innovation. By addressing environmental challenges, enhancing food security, and utilising technological advancements, it offers a viable path toward a more sustainable and resilient food system. As the food industry continues to evolve, embracing precision fermentation will be essential in meeting the demands of a growing global population while safeguarding the planet's natural resources.
(The author is strategic account manager in pharmaceutical and food sector at Malvern Panalytical)
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