SBIR-STTR Award

Currently available weighting agents to increase oil density for stabilizing flavored beverage emulsions are limited and heavily regulated and banned in many countries. However there are no natural weighting agents in the marketplace today. Meanwhile the global demand for "cleanlabel" "natural " and "organic" ingredients continues to rapidly grow. The objective of this project is to make a natural weighting agent ingredient produced using sustainable manufacturing practices to stabilize beverage emulsions. By using chemical-free enzymatic technology to enhance the surface activity zeta potential and amphiphilicity a fiber-based ingredient sourced from citrus and/or the sugar beet industry will be used in beverages to provide oil stabilization. Technology is proposed to activate natural components of plant fibers by using thermal-mechanical treatments to produce a weighting functionality that readily binds to oil. The activating treatments will enhance the oil binding ability of the native pectin and protein found in the natural raw materials and particle sizing will further enhance its properties for stabilizing beverage emulsions. The proposed weighting agent Densi-Fi will be able to replace chemical based weighting agents. Collaborations with the University of Minnesota and USDA-ARS are proposed for compositional analysis characterization and development of new processes to enhance the emulsification properties. The anticipated result is a surface-active weighting agent with large commercial potential. Fiberstar Inc. is a small company without access to research funds for new product development; therefore SBIR grant funding is critical to advance this technology forward demonstrate feasibility and further develop the proposed concepts.

Oil weighting agents are needed to stabilize oils in flavored beverages such as soft drinks but current options are limited heavily regulated and even banned in many countries. However despite their need there are no natural weighting agents in the marketplace today. Meanwhile the global demand for "clean label" "natural " and "organic" ingredients continues to rapidly grow. The objective of this project is to make a natural weighting agent ingredient produced using sustainable manufacturing practices to stabilize beverage emulsions. By using thermal-mechanical and "green" technology to enhance the surface activity zeta potential and amphiphilicity a plant fiber based ingredient sourced from citrus and/or the sugar beet industry will be used to provide oil stabilization. An additional benefit is that the ingredients can be sourced with organic certification and even provide cost savings opportunities versus current weighting agents. Phase I tests indicated positive findings and feasibility of accomplishing the project objectives. For Phase II scale up tests structure-function analyses and application development are proposed along with collaborations with the University of Minnesota and USDA-ARS. Based on the positive findings thus far and industry support the anticipated result is a surface-active weighting agent with large commercial potential that can be commercialized during Phase III. Fiberstar Inc. is a small company without access to research funds for new product development; therefore SBIR grant funding is critical to further develop the proposed concepts.