In animal feed applications, the ideas is that those compounds would be used mainly for pigmentation of skin and yolks but they do have nutritional value as well in terms of antioxidant functionality, the Montpellier headquartered company told us earlier this year.
The fish and poultry trials were run to replicate earlier findings but in a larger cohort of animals. They form part of a strategic project Deinove collaborates in with French agribusiness group, Avril, and through an initiative in the US with Flint Hills Resources.
Yesterday [20 December] also saw Deinove, which was set up to discover, develop, and produce high-value compounds from rare bacteria, notably from the Deinococcus genus, announce the launch of the industrial production of its first carotenoid.
However, CEO of Deinove, Emmanuel Petiot, told us this commercial phase is only targeting food supplement and cosmetic applications, not animal nutrition; the scale up involves the use of a toll manufacturer – SAS Pivert.
The company said it has developed an optimized process in terms of performance and robustness on a 20-liter scale.
Chinese patent
Earlier this year, Deinove reported that its first patent focusing on the use of the bacteria, Deinococcus, for animal nutrition had been issued in China.
Petiot said then that the patent demonstrated the progress it has made in the animal nutrition sector in the past three years.
“China is the world's largest producer of livestock, it is therefore essential that we can eventually market our innovations there with all the necessary protections. However, this patent is intended to be issued in all other major territories,” he added.
Deinove has nearly 160 international patent applications.
The company, which has been listed on the Alternext since April 2010, cites two key assets in terms of its development plan: its strain bank with 6,000 rare bacteria that have not yet been exploited and its genetic, metabolic and fermentation engineering platform that enables it to customize these natural micro-factories.