Whether it’s drain-cleaner bugs, fungal proteins or home-grown probiotics, the entrepreneur is just as crucial to a burgeoning biomanufacturing business as the product. This is what researchers at the CSIR’s Biomanufacturing Industry Development Centre (BIDC) have learnt through helping 41 businesses develop 124 novel food, cosmetic, cleaning and healthcare products since 2013.  

The classic start-up phrase “bet on the jockey, not the horse” has certainly rung true for Lara Kotzé-Jacobs, who has been involved with the BIDC since it was first conceptualised over a decade ago. The BIDC has been funded by the Jobs Fund, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the Technology Innovation Agency through the years.

“Our focus is on biotechnology, bioprocessing and biomanufacturing,” she says. “Because it is a developing sector, many people come to us at the concept stage of their business. If we believe that we can add value, the entrepreneurs are strong and that they can get access to other funding and support, we will take on the project and get them to a minimum viable product.”   

Kotzé-Jacobs explains that the BIDC puts out formal calls for businesses that need help with research and development. “They'll outline their idea or concept and at which stage it is currently at, and then we will evaluate it with our advisory panel and steering committee,” she says.  

[This article is featured in the "Shoulder to shoulder with SMMEs" edition of ScienceScope]

Vegan protein powder for food companies  

The BIDC has just finished developing a mycoprotein product for MycoSure under the leadership of CSIR principal scientist Dr Ghaneshree Moonsamy.  

The starting material for MycoSure’s mycoprotein is Fusarium venenatum, a fungus known to have a high-protein content.  

This organism’s fruiting body is similar to other fungal fruiting bodies, including the common mushroom. A fruiting body usually sprouts from a mycelium, which is a network of fungal threads in soil or on a substrate. But when F. venenaturm is grown in a liquid culture, only mycelium threads grow.  

In a bioreactor, with precisely adjusted and controlled conditions in a liquid medium, one can produce this high-protein fungal biomass in the same amount and quality for every batch.   

Dehydrated and powdered, it becomes a nutritious supplement called mycoprotein, which can be added to soups, shakes and other foods.  

The CSIR has just completed the technology development for MycoSure and is currently in the process of licensing it to them.  

While MycoSure’s founders push for rapid prototyping in a true entrepreneurial spirit, CSIR scientists and engineers push for thorough safety and quality testing to ensure a safe final product that makes techno-economic sense and is ready for the market.  

The next step for this pre-revenue company will be to scale up production from 1 000 litres. For now, while the company perfects its product, tests its market and sets up its biomanufacturing facility, further work may continue at the BIDC.   

ADDITIONAL CONTACT DETAILS:

BIDC 

Dr Lara Kotzé-Jacobs  

lkotze@csir.co.za