The company claims that its new fermentation technology can produce the two ingredients from sugars and starches, unlike the majority of suppliers who extract the amino acids from raw materials of animal origin.
According to Ajinomoto, this new development will help the company serve the needs of its customers that are becoming more concerned by the source of their ingredients.
Source increasingly important
“Our customers around the world are more and more sensitive to the nature and quality of raw materials used in food, pharma and cosmetic production,” said Ajinomoto’s director of sales and marketing Mike Lish.
The company already offers cystine and cysteine that are manufactured by a chemical synthesis process not using animal material in plants of the Nippon Protein Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.
These products will continue to be offered alongside those manufactured through the fermentation process.
No new plants will be necessary in order to bring the development of this technology to fruition, according to the company, and products are expected to hit the market late 2011.