Enzymatic bioprocessing of pectin-rich agricultural byproducts

PROJECT SUMMARYProject Title:Enzymatic bioprocessing of pectin-rich agricultural byproducts.PD:Luke Latimer Ph.D.; Cofounder & Chief Technology Officer at ZestBio Inc.ZestBio Inc. is developing technologies for the production of specialty chemicals fromprevalent byproducts of the US fruit and vegetable processing industries. The ZestBiomission is aligned with USDA NIFA priorities of developing new processes formanufacturing biobased chemicals from US agricultural resources. The United States isuniquely positioned as a world leader in fruit and vegetable processing including sugarproduction from sugar beets (37 million tons/yr) and citrus juicing (3 million tons/yr).However the peel and pulp byproducts from processing lack value-adding technologies.The proposed research aims to develop a value-adding in vitro enzymatic conversiontechnology for the conversion of pectic monosaccharides into specialty chemicals. Thisenzymatic strategy can enable rapid bioprocessing with reduced handling and capexrequirements compared to conventional approaches such as chemical synthesis orfermentation. The first chemical product from this bioprocessing technology can beformulated as a chelant for water treatment applications. This formulation exhibitssuperior calcium and heavy metal binding compared to established biobased chelants.Thus it satisfies the growing demand for sustainable and high-performing chemicals. Theoverall project goal is to engineer improved enzymatic activity for the in vitromanufacturing process. First we propose screening of a variety of natural enzymes andtheir homologs for activity in pectin hydrolysate. Second we propose mutagenesis of theenzyme sequence and identifying high activity mutants using a microbial growth selection.The anticipated results from this work plan are improvements in enzyme activity sufficientfor commercially viable enzymatic bioprocessing. Implementation of thisbiomanufacturing process can increase overall crop revenue. This offers reduced volatilityin crop value financial sustainability for farmers and construction of rural-locatedfermentation facilities to create high paying technical jobs. Furthermore by using existingcrop byproducts our products will have a lower carbon footprint compared to competingchemicals made from petroleum or purified sugar.1