{"id":2938,"date":"2018-02-16T08:15:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T08:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.kolabtree.com\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2018-12-20T09:51:15","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T09:51:15","slug":"innovations-synthetic-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/innovations-synthetic-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Brilliant Innovations in Synthetic Foods"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent years, the clean label movement has been making headway in the food industry<\/a>.\u00a0 Traditional methods of food production that relied on heavy processing and artificial ingredients are losing traction with current consumers, while fast-growing food startups boasting products in the good-for-you category are continuing to gain market share. \u00a0While many of flavors used in the food industry are still produced using synthetic chemistry and petrochemical feedstocks, consumer desire for natural flavors is also on the rise.\u00a0 At the same time, most food products are not fully \u2018synthetic\u2019; the main source of all foods we eat today is still from plants and animals, even if there is some chemical and biological modification along the way.\u00a0 Here we outline some brilliant innovations in synthetic foods:<\/p>\n

NASA and the Food Synthesis Project<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between the 1960s and 1970s, the NASA Ames Research<\/a> Center embarked on a project<\/a> to produce food without using traditionally eaten living organisms, such as crops or livestock.\u00a0 The basic premise of the project was that astronauts would continue to explore space on longer and longer missions.\u00a0 The space and weight available for stored foods aboard spacecraft would be limited, and other processes would be needed to feed the human crew.\u00a0 While growing food was considered a viable option, the speed and area in which food could be grown would limit the amount of food available at any point in time.\u00a0 Instead, the program investigated simple chemical methods that could regenerate food using waste products and rocket fuel.<\/p>\n

Several publications were published on processes developed to generate edible carbohydrates from water, carbon dioxide, and electricity.\u00a0 These processes relied on the electrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen gas.\u00a0 The hydrogen gas would be reacted with carbon dioxide, captured from the exhalation of aerospace crew, to form methane.\u00a0 Methane would then be converted into formaldehyde by a careful partial oxidation with oxygen and led into a series of catalyzed reactions that formed formose sugars or glycerol from the formaldehyde.\u00a0 Formose sugars are similar to the typical sugars we eat, such as glucose, sucrose, or fructose, and so can be readily digested by humans for energy.\u00a0 Glycerol is a common intermediate formed in the human body on the way to metabolizing sugars, and so is also an edible product.\u00a0 These pure carbohydrate products can be further reacted together to form long polymers similar to starch or used directly as sweeteners.<\/p>\n

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The mechanisms and transformations in the #formose<\/a> reaction are reviewed. http:\/\/t.co\/O89Tw7iS9W<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/gAGdcjskgJ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ChemSusChem (@ChemSusChem) June 17, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n