enginzyme
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In food oil production, enzymatic interesterification is replacing chemical interesterification, especially for makers of low-trans or trans-fat-free margarines and shortenings. Enginzyme is working with Bunge and other industry partners to customize this process, cutting costs and creating purer, safer, more sustainable products that do not require a lot of downstream processing.

During the Covid-19 crisis, enginzyme’s scientists and engineers searched for ways they could help. With assistance from our partners, we developed a patented process to synthesize pseudouridine, a key ingredient in mRNA vaccines, generating far less waste than current chemical techniques. We can make the ingredient at scale, at a competitive price.

One of the wonders of biomanufacturing is that waste streams can be transformed. Instead of a burden, they become products with value. For example, making Greek yogurt produces a by-product called acid whey, a watery substance that can damage ecosystems if it gets into the groundwater. Enginzyme worked with Tetra Pak to come up with a process to turn this costly sidestream into a valuable, healthy food ingredient.

Some chemicals have been produced enzymatically for more than a decade with decreased environmental impact and improved economics compared to their chemical synthesis versions. The continuous evolution of enginzyme’s technology platform is giving the chemical industry more options to produce a wide range of chemicals, from base chemicals to specialty molecules, using enzymatic catalysis.

Kojibiose, a so-called ‘rare sugar’, is a disaccharide naturally present in honey (around 3%) and soy sauce. It is a potent prebiotic and has many desirable properties for a sucrose (table sugar) replacement, including bulking and taste properties. Enginzyme created an efficient process to create this potential blockbuster using regular sugar water as a starting material.