Celanese Ventures starts production of omega-3 fatty acids - a valuable food ingredient
Celanese Ventures has signed an agreement with a leading fermentation company to safeguard production capacity, thus fulfilling the precondition for entering the market for omega-3 fatty acids. Biotechnologically produced omega-3 fatty acids are an innovative form of food ingredients.
Celanese Ventures aims to supply producers of nutritional supplements (particularly capsules) and functional foods and beverages with docosahexanoic acids (DHA), the most important omega-3 fatty acid.
DHA is essential to the development of the brain and vision in infants as well as for prevention of mental and cardio-vascular diseases. Since DHA can only be produced by the body in very limited quantities, it has to come from our nutrition. Experts agree that there is a lack of DHA in many countries - such as in the U.S.
PROTOS-Biotech - the biotechnology unit at Celanese Ventures - develops technologies to use naturally occurring, sophisticated microorganisms, called protists, or microalgae to produce food ingredients and other highly valuable molecules.
Celanese Ventures produces DHA from protists which exhibit significant advantages compared to the omega-3 fatty acids extracted from fish: They contain a higher percentage of DHA, achieve a constant level of high quality, taste good and exhibit no toxic impurities.
"We expect to clear the hurdles necessary for U.S. approval soon, so that we can enter the U.S. market," says Thomas Kiy, Director of PROTOS-Biotech: "After we receive positive notification, we will start over the next few months to sell DHA to our customers that produce functional food products and that develop and market nutritional supplements."
With Celanese Ventures, Celanese AG promotes development projects that lie outside the core businesses or that cannot be operated by the businesses' research departments alone due to the projects' long-term horizons and broad application possibilities. At present, these include membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells, innovative food ingredients and new catalysts. Celanese Ventures aims to enhance value for Celanese by selling leading technologies to interested buyers or by integrating those technologies into its own portfolio.
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