Today, we’re announcing our partnership with Ambrosia Bio, an Israeli foodtech company developing novel bioprocesses for the global sugar replacement industry.
Ambrosia Bio will leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services, including our proprietary chassis organisms, to help produce allulose, a next-generation sugar replacement, more affordably and at scale.
Allulose is an FDA-approved rare sugar that is found in figs, raisins, wheat, maple syrup, and molasses but occurs naturally only in small amounts. Unlike other currently available sweeteners, allulose has a low caloric value – typically under 10% compared to equivalent amounts of sucrose – giving it the ability to minimally impact blood glucose and insulin levels while maintaining sugar’s sensory and culinary properties.
Mass production of allulose requires enzymatic conversion of common carbohydrates, but many of the natural enzymes available on the market today lack stability and effectiveness. Over the past three years of stealth mode development, Ambrosia Bio has successfully developed a unique bioprocess using proprietary enzymes alongside a complementary production process to affordably and scalably convert lower-margin feedstocks (e.g., sugar and starch) into rare sugars and specialized ingredients such as allulose.
To further optimize its process, Ambrosia Bio will leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services, our end-to-end service powered by ultra-high throughput screening and machine learning-guided protein design.
The aim is to aid Ambrosia Bio’s goal of producing an optimized version of its proprietary enzyme in a productive expression strain. In particular, Ambrosia Bio seeks to benefit from access to Ginkgo’s extensive strain engineering Codebase, as well as Ginkgo’s Foundry capabilities in enzyme expression and analytical chemistry, to develop a more scalable and affordable commercial allulose solution.
“Ginkgo has established itself as a global leader in the synthetic biology ecosystem and precision fermentation space,” said Ziv Zwighaft, Founder and CEO at Ambrosia Bio. “With end-to-end capabilities, Ginkgo is a one-stop shop that can enable Ambrosia Bio to expand global allulose availability. We aim to provide affordable options for key sugar production players, as well as leading global brands in the food and beverage space, many of whom are looking for a sugar replacement that does not compromise the superb consumption experience offered by their products.”
We are excited to partner with Ambrosia to enhance their enzymatic innovation for the sugar replacement industry!
Ambrosia Bio’s high-performance enzymes and its conjugated allulose production process have the potential to significantly reduce the cost associated with the mass production of allulose, paving the way to reduced-sugar products without compromising taste or other key sensory traits.
Our latest technologies can support your protein and enzyme production projects in the food space!
Join us on June 30th from 10:00 – 11:00 am ET for our Functional Food Proteins with Microbial Expression Systems virtual event.
