Argentinian Startup Creates Food Coloring From Fungi

Michroma, Argentinian synbio firm is currently working on the production of fungi-based natural food colourings, a market dominated by synthetics and animal-derived products. The startup has developed a heat-stable vibrant red colour made from fungi through synthetic biology and fermentation technology.

The company’s co-founder and CEO Ricky Cassini said in an interview with Food Navigator that the firm leverages non-GMO filamentous fungi strains that can produce specific colours when fed with low-cost feedstocks in bioreactors. The fungi secretes the colours into the media where it grows, which is then filtered, dried and concentrated into a final product.

He added that the final product has a “high content of protein with all the essential amino acids and fiber that still retains a little bit of color, which makes it a very interesting byproduct for processed meat companies and plant-based meat companies.”

Michroma’s vibrant red colorant is vegan, kosher and halal, and can be used in beverages, candies, yogurts and baking mixes. It is also temperature-stable, and “can survive spray drying, extrusion, and pasteurization,” according to Cassini, making it a viable alternative for many companies in the food industry worldwide.

Michroma’s red colorant can become a substitute for currently-used red dyes made from carmine, a pigment derived from crushed beetles and cochineal insects. It also poses a big threat to other plant-based colorants: tomato-based lycopene isn’t as bright and beetroot is not heat-stable. Compared to beet-based red colors, Cassini states that Michroma’s colour intensity is around 58-times more, claiming that “The usage is really, really low.” This is also favorable for businesses that want to achieve sustainability goals while keeping their costs low.

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Michroma is currently fueled by seed funding from the same investors behind Upside Foods, Perfect Day and NotCo. They plan to open a financing round in early 2022 for its expansion roadmap, and submit a colour additive petition to the FDA. After that, Michroma wants to sell its colourants through a B2B approach, partnering with food producers and ingredients suppliers.

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