459 DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE WELLBEING
As illustrated with the example of S rebaudiana extract, the subcritical water extraction
technology provides a clean, sustainable, and efficient extraction of phytochemicals.
Additionally, the spent biomass is readily compostable as it is not contaminated with
chemical solvents. Because of the efficient extraction, raw material usage is also minimized,
which leads to minimizing our footprint and maximizing our handprint.
In the case of biotechnology, the processes can also be considered clean due to the
raw materials and the simplicity of conditions used to grow microorganisms that just
need bioreactor warming and aeration to support microbial growth and production of
metabolites. Moreover, purification methods are mainly based on physical processes such
as centrifugation, filtration, dialysis, and mechanical cell disruption, when applicable. An
example is found in the THW biotech ingredient that is recovered from the bacterial
intracellular milieu with mechanical disruption and purified using physical methods such
as centrifugation and filtration without the need for chemical reagents or solvents other
than water.
Referring to the peptide synthesis, the manufacturing process of tetrapeptide-1 has
been refined to achieve a higher sustainability by implementing the principles of green
chemistry.4 Industrial peptide manufacturing is mainly based on solid phase peptide
chemistry, a technology that was awarded a Nobel Prize (Robert Bruce Merrifield, 1984)
for the efficiency of the process as peptides can be obtained at a high purity without any
intermediate purification steps, which considerably speeds up the manufacture process and
allows for automatization. However, this technology uses traditional twentieth century
organic chemistry reagents with room for improvement given the use of hazardous reagents
and wastes. Improvements achieved in the synthesis of tetrapeptide-1 have been toward a less
hazardous chemical synthesis (reduced 70% of the amount of hazardous acids, avoided the
use of thiols, and replaced explosive reagents), waste prevention (reduced the consumption
of organic solvents during the synthetic process by 11%), and reduced derivatives (25%
reduction in the number of protection and deprotection steps during the synthesis, which
reduced the amount of organic solvents).
Figure 4. Comparison of the caffeoylquinic acid derivatives extracted from S rebaudiana.
As illustrated with the example of S rebaudiana extract, the subcritical water extraction
technology provides a clean, sustainable, and efficient extraction of phytochemicals.
Additionally, the spent biomass is readily compostable as it is not contaminated with
chemical solvents. Because of the efficient extraction, raw material usage is also minimized,
which leads to minimizing our footprint and maximizing our handprint.
In the case of biotechnology, the processes can also be considered clean due to the
raw materials and the simplicity of conditions used to grow microorganisms that just
need bioreactor warming and aeration to support microbial growth and production of
metabolites. Moreover, purification methods are mainly based on physical processes such
as centrifugation, filtration, dialysis, and mechanical cell disruption, when applicable. An
example is found in the THW biotech ingredient that is recovered from the bacterial
intracellular milieu with mechanical disruption and purified using physical methods such
as centrifugation and filtration without the need for chemical reagents or solvents other
than water.
Referring to the peptide synthesis, the manufacturing process of tetrapeptide-1 has
been refined to achieve a higher sustainability by implementing the principles of green
chemistry.4 Industrial peptide manufacturing is mainly based on solid phase peptide
chemistry, a technology that was awarded a Nobel Prize (Robert Bruce Merrifield, 1984)
for the efficiency of the process as peptides can be obtained at a high purity without any
intermediate purification steps, which considerably speeds up the manufacture process and
allows for automatization. However, this technology uses traditional twentieth century
organic chemistry reagents with room for improvement given the use of hazardous reagents
and wastes. Improvements achieved in the synthesis of tetrapeptide-1 have been toward a less
hazardous chemical synthesis (reduced 70% of the amount of hazardous acids, avoided the
use of thiols, and replaced explosive reagents), waste prevention (reduced the consumption
of organic solvents during the synthetic process by 11%), and reduced derivatives (25%
reduction in the number of protection and deprotection steps during the synthesis, which
reduced the amount of organic solvents).
Figure 4. Comparison of the caffeoylquinic acid derivatives extracted from S rebaudiana.
