Development of a low-cost natural pigment production in a GRAS yeast

Carotenoids, the basic source of yellow, orange and red, are among the most common, naturally occurring pigments. Because of their antioxidant properties and colors, currently, carotenoids are used commercially as feed additives, natural food colorants,??dietary supplements and cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, most of carotenoids used industrially are chemically synthesized from petrochemical sources, a disadvantage as chemical synthesis yields food safety issue as well as not environmentally friendly. Carotenoids produced from their natural source are projected to be the fastest-growing market segment owing to increasing consumers' preferences toward natural products. A major challenge for manufacturers is the high??production cost of natural products compared to the chemical synthetic versions, which limits the obtainable market. Without innovation, processes to isolate natural carotenoids cannot compete on price with the synthetic counterparts, particularly in aquaculture and poultry feed market.We aim to develop novel technologies which will allow us to reliably produce high-value carotenoids at low cost and sustainable commercial levels through yeast fermentation-based processes to satisfy the rapidly growing market demands of natural products for animal and human health. Our technology is based on bioengineering specialized General Regarded as Safe (GRAS) yeast which allows us the ability to make carotenoids more normally found elsewhere in nature. Our technologies have??multiple benefits, including a clean "natural" label, better product quality, improved supply chain, reduced production cost, and improved sustainability. Compared with the current petroleum-based synthetic method, our approach will meet its high yield and lower-cost and will surpass it with a clean, natural label. Our approach will exceed the low yield and high cost of natural source extraction. After commercial-scale production, we believe that our product would be widely used by the aquaculture and poultry industries and would replace current chemically synthesized product in the animal feed market. The aquaculture and poultry industries, and thus consumers, will benefit from our wholesome product.