Scientists create new alternative to palm oil
Scientists at a Welsh university have devised a new way of creating alternatives to palm oil in our food and cosmetics.
Demand for palm oil is set to increase by 40% in the next decade. It is well known to have a very harmful impact on the environment – destroying tropical forests and natural habitats.
Academics at Aberystwyth University have worked with Sun Bear Biofuture to find a way of fermenting yeast to produce an alternative oil with similar properties to palm oil but without the damaging effects.
By using cutting-edge fermentation and molecular biology techniques, the research team aims to reduce reliance on palm oil in food, biofuels and cosmetics.
Crucial
The new product could replace palm oil in goods ranging from cookies to lip balms and moisturisers.
Speaking about the project, Dr David Warren-Walker from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University said: “We’re so pleased to be able to contribute to this important project. Developing a product that can replace palm oil is crucial for habitats and the environment around the world.
“It’s a privilege to work alongside Sun Bear towards this goal. The opportunity to collaborate with a start-up company to rapidly develop precision fermentation alternatives is vital to ensure social, environmental, and economic sustainability. I really hope that our work will make a real contribution to speeding up the transition away from palm oil.”
Pilot
The team has proven the new oil at pilot scale using the expertise and equipment at Aberystwyth University’s AberInnovation Campus.
They are now working to scale-up the product for cosmetics and food applications, targeting early industrial production in 2026.
Ben Williams, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of UK-based start-up Sun Bear Biofuture added: “Though palm oil is low in cost to produce, the drawback of growing it is that, globally, the crop is responsible for 500 million tonnes of CO2released annually due to the destruction of rainforests to grow palm trees.
“This deforestation has a huge impact on the displacement of rare rainforest habitats and species, such as our company’s namesake, the sun bear.”
As a vegetable oil, palm oil is unique because of its practical advantages and productivity.
Mr Williams added: “We are using cutting edge technology to explore how to produce everyday essentials in a way which has the potential to divert manufacturing processes away from the existing reliance on palm oil and protect endangered species.
“Our alternative to palm oil has a lower carbon footprint and a reduced reliance on land; we are currently trialling different fermentation processes to perfect product development.”
Scheme
The research forms part of AberInnovation’s Solutions Catalyst programme, which is backed by funding from UK Government and the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Campus Innovation Award scheme.
The programme aims to boost innovation by helping companies tap into the world-leading research capabilities of Aberystwyth University and the cutting-edge facilities and technical expertise at AberInnovation.
Based at Aberystwyth University’s Gogerddan campus, AberInnovation is one of five research and innovation campuses funded by BBSRC.
Nick Bassett, Associate Director for Innovation at BBSRC, said: “BBSRC is proud to support the pioneering work being led by the talented team at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences in partnership with Sun Bear Biofuture.
“This project not only stands as a testament to the power of meaningful collaboration between BBSRC’s strategically supported institutes, the UK research community and our industry partners, but it also exemplifies the innovative spirit of BBSRC’s Campus Innovation Award scheme.
“BBSRC is dedicated to growing dynamic innovation bioclusters across the UK that leverage research excellence to address some of the most pressing global challenges. By harnessing cutting-edge biotechnologies to develop palm oil alternatives, we are advancing scientific frontiers and delivering on our commitment to environmental stewardship and economic sustainability.”
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The Story of Palm Oil !…that would be a two hundred year old game changer Aber…!
You might run into Kemi at some point…
It will be interesting to see which way she jumps…
She will be against any new product based on ‘bugs’. Being from Cymru it will count as ‘foreign’ so certainly not suitable for the White Supremacist England and its colonies that she is keen to promote.
Epo, in the local parlance, has special significance for the Yoruba people…
The income from West African Slavery was largely replaced by the export of Palm products, precious minerals, metals and hard woods…
Well over half the palm oil in the world is produced in Indonesia, and only became significant in the late 20th century with the introduction of industrial cold pressing and the need to pad out ultra-processed foods with a lubricant that did not become rancid over time. Fresh wholesome food needs no palm oil nor synthetic alternatives.
We should reduce reliance on ultra-processed foods as they can be negative effect on your health long term.
Too many additives that are not really required.
Farmers in the UK should be paying attention as these forms of precision fermentation will be affecting dairy and then meat production shortly.
an interesting development but this article was frustratingly light on detail or context I had to find a better article at Sun Bear Biofuture makes palm oil alternative https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2024/05/24/Sun-Bear-Biofuture-makes-palm-oil-alternative/ a Finnish startup – Solar Foods – is using a similar concept and technique to produce protein, called “solein”. Agriculture is a cause of climate change. In 2024, after a period of globalisation and hence interdependency between nations, the nations of the world is realising they have become vulnerable; for example Europe is/was dependent on Russian oil and gas. The world is largely dependent on China for solar panels and lithium… Read more »
Can their be two different compounds with the sane chemical characteristics. I doubt if it can have feature like palm oil. It might be close to it but there must be trade off somewhere. The media hype on graphite some years back have not seen the projections yet. As long as trees are replacing trees, the issues of deforestation have been tackled.
Why you westerners are always envious of our oil palm and palm oil? Just because its very versatile and latest finding showed that it is more nutritious than seed oil, you want to jeopardise our precious oil? Everytime you want to critisize our palm oil, you keep on mentioning deforestation. How else on earth you think you want to grow oil palm then? In the sky? Of course we need land to cultivate the huge palm. Of course we have to perform deforestation! Your soybean, maize, sunflower, all use more hectarage to produce the same amount of oil like oil… Read more »
In our lifetime, South America has experienced deforestation to create farmland; for agriculture and cattle. It feeds a growing population. It improves food security and lowers food prices. For humanity, this is good. But for nature, this is bad. We need a smarter approach. We want to avoid further deforestation. If you imagine Europe, you might imagine rivers flowing between lush green hills. You might imagine vineyards and olive groves. Wheat, oats, barley and beans. You might imagine fruit and vegetables ripening in the sun. You might imagine cows eating grass, then milked to make the hundreds of cheeses across… Read more »
Criminalising the palm tree because you want to create synthetic oil that will eventually lead to diseases that you will need to cure. I do hope your people are wise enough to stop you. When flying from Europe to Africa there are large expans of land that are not cultivated, these could be reclaimed to save the planet. But you don’t want to do that rather you are using flimsy excuses as a reason for creating synthetic oil without considering their side effects.
“create synthetic oil that will eventually lead to diseases that you will need to cure” “creating synthetic oil without considering their side effects” In the EU, “novel foods” are *EXTREMELY* tightly regulated; see Regulation – 2015/2283 – EN – EUR-Lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32015R2283 In 2024 The UK is not in the EU. But I expect Sun Bear Biofuture intend to sell their product in the EU, so will comply with this regulation. Novel foods must be subject to a uniform safety assessment before they can be placed on the market in the EU. Novel foods must not pose a risk to the… Read more »
Professor Dennis Murphy showed that oil palm has an unbeatable carbon sequestration power, contradicting claims by Westerners who advocate for alternatives. This professional academician speaks the truth without any ulterior motives, unlike the biased narratives often spread. Furthermore, previous accusations about the negative health consequences of consuming palm oil have been refuted by evidence showing that the actual source of harmful trans fats is the heavily processed foods commonly found in the Western diet, which rely on hydrogenated oils rather than natural options like palm oil.
Acrerage may be bigger for maize, soy etc but the environmental impact is much less. Not sure about Europe, but there are a lot of empty spaces in USA where trees do not grow (no clearing of forest needed) that are only suitable for such crops. So planting maize, sunflower and soy does not destroy the environment the same way as clearing virgin forest 100+times the size of Singapore and killing lots of animals to plant oil palm. In the USA virgin forest are highly protected from agriculture unlike your oil palm. Trees replacing trees is nonsense when endangered animals… Read more »
You hit right on the nail. This westerner have and always been jealous of other countries that can produce economies that support the domestic as well as have extras for export. China example is the best example. Anything China does is wrong, but look at the reality, China has succcesfully from being a poor nation to a super advance country in all aspects, economy, agriculture, manufacturing technology, medical science, aero industry, weaponary, space. Name it and China is there within a short space of time. And off course the Western pariahs are not happy as their growth model still depends… Read more »
Lie dishonest unreliable