10076080Development of a small scale pilot plant (biofermentory) for the production of an innovative probiotic health beverageClosedGrant for R&DInnovate UKThe project forms an integral part of a programme to bring to market an innovative, healthy soft drink. It will be positioned as a functional drink and an everyday product that will give consumers a 'better choice' option in everyday retail or from a low/no menu in a food service setting. While having healthy properties it will be palatable and easy drinking. Specifically is will be a probiotic product employing the unique activity of probiotic cultures. It will be a specially 'brewed' product adopting innovative culturing and fermentation techniques in a custom engineered processing facility. The significance of the human gut microbiome and the role of probiotics in healing and supporting it has become abundantly clear in recent years. Likewise, modern lifestyle appears to wreak havoc on the diversity and function of the microbiome. The apparently relentless rise in modern health conditions including asthma, childhood food intolerances and allergies, eczema and other skin issues, auto-immune disorders, diabetes and many more is increasingly considered to go hand in hand with waning or imbalances in gut microbiome health. A link has even been shown between gut microbiome and mental health and wellbeing, including effects on depression and anxiety. Growing evidence from ongoing scientific research in this field is being published almost daily that demonstrates just how important probiotics are to support our microbiome. Not only are they important to our general health and wellbeing, it is now clear that probiotics can be employed in a type of low intervention therapeutic way to specifically treat health conditions. Once where they were traditionally employed generically for gastrointestinal conditions, now there is a substantial increase in the number of uses of probiotics and they are being used to treat a growing number of systemic conditions. Due to the novel and unique nature of the substrate and the bioprocess used, a bespoke processing facility is required. The purpose of this project to develop a bespoke small scale pilot plant. It is considered to be a bioprocessing or biofermenting plant. The project will incorporate biochemical and process engineering principles and will progress through phases of finalised conceptual design, element sourcing and procurement, plant installation, commissioning and site approval testing. Following the project, the plant will go on to be employed to help determine and refine optimal methodology, operating parameters and recipes for the end product. It will become a prototype for an eventual full scale commercial facility.