I-Corps: A Technology for Converting Agricultural Byproducts into Probiotic Culturing Media

Award ID: 2022788

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a process for the probiotics industry to reduce production costs and increase the selection of products derived from natural and/or non-dairy ingredients. In addition, this innovation may positively impact agricultural industries by creating a new market for the waste byproducts generated during storage, transportation, and processing of agricultural products. These byproducts represent a large proportion of the agricultural biomaterials and include eels, trimmings, stems, shells, bran, and seeds. Agricultural byproducts often end up in landfills, increasing the costs of disposal and creating environmental challenges. By creating a new market for these byproducts, this innovation may simultaneously reduce probiotic production costs, increase the income from agricultural production, reduce agricultural waste, and help protect the environment. This I-Corps project explores translation of a technology to convert agricultural byproducts into probiotic culturing media. To date, adoption of byproduct-based media has been limited by nutrient extraction processes that have relied on expensive chemical or enzymatic processes. The proposed technology reduces extraction cost by relying on a series of mechanical steps that requires only energy input. Reducing nutrient extraction costs enables adoption of probiotic culturing media. Small- and medium-scale studies have demonstrated that probiotic strains may be cultivated at lower cost and with higher yield in this fashion. In addition, experiments with several commercially available probiotic species have shown similarly positive results in terms of cost, yield, and quality of the cultured material. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Ruth Shuman