How is AI breaking the cycle of food byproduct waste? 2nd Nature is spearheading a green revolution.

ZhiGeng News aims to deliver, in a more concise and summary format, recent frontline industry insights—such as regulatory policy updates, innovative commercial developments, and key financing news—at home and abroad that merit attention from peers in cutting-edge biotechnology fields, thereby supporting the growth of China’s biotech ecosystem. Feedback and discussion are warmly welcomed! Across the global food processing value chain, vast quantities of inedible or underutilized byproducts—including fruit peels, pomace, cereal fibers, and fermentation slurries—are routinely discarded, resulting not only in massive resource waste but also increased environmental burdens. At the same time, growing consumer preference for 'clean-label' products has sharply elevated manufacturers’ demand for natural, functional ingredients—creating new market opportunities for upgrading and repurposing these byproducts. 01. AI-Driven Byproduct Transformation Accelerates Resource Circularity As sustainability and circular resource utilization become central themes in the food industry, 2nd Nature—a company specializing in clean ingredient solutions—is leveraging artificial intelligence to inject fresh momentum into the efficient upgrading of food processing byproducts. Recently, 2nd Nature officially launched its latest AI platform—AgWaste Portal—designed to optimize the identification, extraction, and conversion processes of byproduct resources, delivering sustainable ingredient solutions across food & beverage, personal care, and health & nutrition sectors. 02. Deep Mining of Functional Compounds, Reshaping Ingredient R&D Paradigms Built upon advanced machine learning algorithms, 2nd Nature’s AgWaste Portal platform enables deep analysis and intelligent screening of diverse food byproducts, identifying and extracting naturally occurring functional compounds. By dramatically reducing the human effort and time traditionally required for R&D, this platform significantly enhances ingredient discovery efficiency, driving formulation innovation and green transformation across supply chains.

From broken rice byproducts to high-value raw materials: How integrated filtration-washing-drying equipment and complementary drying systems overcome bottlenecks in industrial-scale rice protein purification?

High-Value Utilization of Rice Byproducts—A New Opportunity for Staple Food Industries in the Plant Protein Arena China is the world’s largest rice producer. Beyond direct consumption, rice serves as a primary raw material across numerous food deep-processing sectors—including starch-sugar production, confectionery, and brewing. In starch-sugar manufacturing, rice is typically hydrolyzed using amylase and glucoamylase; the resulting rice residue constitutes the main byproduct of this sugar-making process. Historically, broken rice and rice residue have been relegated to low-value applications—either sold cheaply as animal feed or disposed of as waste—leaving their rich, high-quality protein content largely untapped. While rice contains approximately 7–8% protein, rice residue can contain up to 65% or more protein, making it an excellent source for producing rice protein and rice peptides. The core value of rice extracts manifests across four dimensions: (1) Rice protein stands out for its low allergenicity and high nutritional value. Compared with wheat and corn proteins, rice protein features a well-balanced amino acid profile aligned with the ideal pattern recommended by WHO/FAO; its biological value (BV) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) rival those of animal proteins such as egg, beef, and milk. (2) In preschool children, the true digestibility, biological value, and net protein utilization of rice protein reach 88.8%, 90.0%, and 79.9%, respectively. Its low antigenicity makes it especially suitable for special dietary foods, infant complementary foods, and pharmaceutical/healthcare products. (3) Rice protein peptides and oligopeptides—small-molecule products generated via protein hydrolysis—exhibit superior absorption properties and are rich in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and arginine, conferring clear application value in sports nutrition, elderly nutrition supplementation, and children’s foods. Research shows that rice peptides predominantly fall within the molecular weight range of 200–2000 Da, demonstrating strong antioxidant and anti-aging effects. (4) Rice starch—the other major co-product obtained after protein extraction—can be applied across food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries following high-efficiency purification and drying, serving as a foundational raw material for modified starches, syrups, and dietary fiber. From an industry trend perspective, the global plant protein market continues to expand, while downstream markets increasingly demand higher standards for raw material purity, activity retention, solubility, and other quality attributes. Deep processing of broken rice is no longer merely a waste management issue—it represents an inevitable direction for staple food industries to extend their value chains. Yet unlocking this value chain hinges critically on specialized equipment capable of reliably supporting core unit operations such as purification and drying. Dual Bottlenecks of Purity and Quality—Technical Hurdles in Advanced Rice Protein Processing Despite its promising applications, extracting high-purity, high-quality rice protein and peptide products from broken rice or rice residue has long faced systemic technical bottlenecks across the entire purification–drying workflow. (1) In the purification stage, conventional stepwise filtration and washing processes suffer from operational discontinuity and substantial material loss during transfers between units. During rice protein extraction, solid–liquid separation and washing are often conducted across separate pieces of equipment, requiring multiple material transfers—each causing yield loss and purity fluctuations. Moreover, open-system handling introduces cross-contamination risks, making it difficult to consistently meet food-grade or pharmaceutical-grade raw material specifications. Traditional alkaline extraction methods, though cost-effective, involve large liquid-to-solid ratios, consuming excessive alkali and water; subsequent isoelectric precipitation demands large volumes of acid, and desalting/purification proves highly challenging. Under high-concentration alkaline conditions, proteins readily denature, and certain amino acids may undergo condensation reactions generating toxic substances—posing potential food safety hazards.

Moa Foodtech Turns Food Industry Waste into Ingredients Using AI

1 day ago

Moa Foodtech utilizes AI-guided fermentation to transform food industry by-products into nutritious ingredients. The Spanish startup secured €12 million in funding to support its microbial strain development.

cen

2026-10-12

Moa Foodtech Turns Food Industry Waste into Ingredients Using AI

Moa Foodtech Turns Food Industry Waste into Ingredients Using AI

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