Davisco Foods has significantly increased its production capacity for the protein alpha-lactalbumin, following a program of “substantial capital investment”.
Davisco’s unique product is isolated from bovine milk to more than 90% alpha-lactalbumin – the highest purity commercially available – at the company’s facility in the US state of Idaho. Following the investment, production capacity will increase tenfold.
Alpha-lactalbumin is the primary protein in human milk and is critical for infant nutrition. It is the richest source of natural tryptophan, the precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
Mike Klein, director of whey operations, said: “This proprietary alpha isolation process was developed, designed, scaled up and ultimately built by our internal R&D and engineers. The end result is a unique and functional commercial process that not only produces alpha at a purity and scale never seen before, but is also sustainable.”
Davisco Foods president Jon Davis added: “Davisco has always been on the cutting edge of protein separation technology in our protein technology centre in Le Sueur, Minnesota, and to see the successful high volume commercialisation of what has become our centrepiece product is very rewarding. High-purity alpha-lactalbumin will revolutionise our whey protein capability, allowing us to partner with customers in developing new products for the infant formula industry. This will naturally lead to our next generation of products, which are well on their way to commercialisation.”
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