Lipid Design, Engineering, and Production.

Lipids are fats and oils. While vegetable oils from plant seeds or animal fats like butter are familiar commodities, they serve as precursors to more exotic molecules such as those that make fish a healthy meal and those that give a rose its aroma. Conagen’s lipid production technologies encompass both lipid biosynthesis and lipid bioconversion.

Our lipid platform yields high-quality products that can be used in infant formulas, fortified foods, or nutraceuticals, and as natural flavoring agents. These include our strawberry, peach, coconut and capsaicin lipid-based flavors, created through enzymatic conversion of oils, which are used in many desirable fragrances.

All of these synthetic biology products offer cruelty-free options as well as products that avoid supply chain issues. That’s because fermented or bio-converted products are not affected by seasonal or climate variations in crops, and require less land and fewer resources to produce.

Lipid bio-manufacturing: gamma-decalatone

As an example, Conagen produces gamma-decalactone, a food-grade flavoring agent and aroma compound derived from plant lipid, at commercial scale.

Gamma-decalactone, found in many fruits, has an intense peach flavor that also adds a creamy note to fragrances. It is used commercially in formulations of peach, apricot and strawberry flavors for use in beverages, personal care products and pharmaceutical applications. Like many of our lipid products, our bio-engineers produce it and related lactones by bioconversion or fermentation, using natural and wild strains of yeast to ensure the EU Natural status of this ingredient. Our lactone portfolio includes many non-GMO compliant products, which meet GMP and BRC manufacturing standards for purity, value, and quality to serve world markets.