Business development manager Jordi Jongbloed told us the 1-year old firm had committed to, “an industrial-scale facility” for the technology with its own funds and sought partners for other “industrial development”.
The company says its ‘cool extraction’ IP can produce solvent-free natural extracts like lycopene from tomatoes as one example, cheaply.
“It is particularly suited to fragile ingredients as there is no chemical damage due to cool processing,” Jongbloed said.
The food, pharma and cosmetics industries are the targets for the ingredients.
In a statement the company said: “There is undeniably a trend towards usage of natural ingredients. Certainly in the area of natural extraction for colouring agents, fragrances, flavourings and functional ingredients.”
“Unfortunately these natural ingredients are often too expensive in comparison to synthetic extracts. Companies are therefore looking for better and cheaper solutions.”
Jongbloed added: “With respect to the circular economy more and more companies are looking to add value to waste streams. Phytonext’s extraction technology is a good method for new players in the market that want to take concrete steps towards a circular economy.”