The nanotechnology company won over judges in the first of three rounds of FoodNavigator and Future Food-Tech’s Global Food Tech Awards by showcasing the versatile applications of its nanobubbles that offer clean label solutions to improve the taste, texture and nutritional profile of food as well as overcome capacity constraints limiting precision fermentation.
Emerging science also suggests Hydrosome’s technology could improve gut health, which could open the door for companies to use ultrafine bubbles in new products that support consumers taking popular weight loss drugs or looking to boost their GLP-1 agonist production with food rather than pharma.
The technology also holds promise within the cosmetics industry to improve the feel and permeability of topical products – helping to elevate the consumer experience so brands can command more premium pricing. The company already is teaming with super model and celebrity Cindy Crawford to use its technology in a line of Meaningful Beauty products, as reported by sister publication Cosmetics Design USA.
The runners up in the Americas heat include Marine Biologics, which uses machine learning and a proprietary processing system to produce clean ingredients from macro algae, and Carit, which created a free online donating matching marketplace for surplus foods.
How can bubbles so small, do so much?
Even though Hydrosome Labs’ ultrafine bubbles are so small that 1 trillion would fit inside a single champagne bubble, they pack an outsized punch in part because they are fast moving, do not float and carry a charge, which means they can attract and deliver nutrients efficiently, explained Nick Jackowetz, senior vice president and principal scientist at Hydrosome Labs.
“These bubbles we can impart into a solution and they stay there for extended periods of time. They have a charge on them too, and that means they can interact with different constituents in solution” and that they “act as little magnets” to draw nutrients to them which they then deliver to cells along with the gasses inside of them, he said.
“We see that these cells, as they divide, their flagella – their tails – actually start to shorten because they do not need to go find food and nutrients. They are actually getting it delivered by the bubble. It is phenomenal and that is leading us down that path of our understanding of how this works and where these interactions are happening,” added Paul Gadbut, president and CEO, Hydrosome Labs.
Ultrafine bubbles can boost precision fermentation and improve nutritionals
By acting like a “little delivery truck” that brings nutrients to cells so they are “happier” and grow more quickly, ultrafine bubbles can boost production of precision fermentation, which is emerging as a powerful – but capacity constrained technology – within the food industry, said Jackowetz.
“Today there is approximately an estimated 60 million liters of capacity for precision fermentation, but over the next five to seven years, global demand is expected to go beyond a billion liters of need,” and one way to increase production without investing heavily in expensive equipment is to shorten the timeframe it takes to ferment cells and produce biomass by adding ultrafine bubbles, Gadbut said.
Research by the company found the addition of its ultrafine bubbles boosted biomass by more than 20% and titers by more than 15%. Another study showed a 25% faster exponential onset time.
Cell density is another challenge within precision fermentation with many companies trying to pack more cells in a set amount of space, but as they do nutrient flow and production slows. According to Jackowetz, the ultrafine bubbles are able to penetrate dense cells to deliver nutrition and oxygen more easily than mixing alone, which means companies can boost density upwards of 20%.
A clean label solution
Because ultrafine bubbles have a charge that allows them to stay in the solution rather than rising to the top, they can alter the texture of food and in some cases speed production while also eliminating the need for expensive or less desirable ingredients.
For example, infusing a mayonnaise with ultrafine bubbles allows it to set more quickly – making it thicker and improving its emulsion capability so that fewer eggs are necessary. Given the volatile and current high price of eggs, this could offer a significant economic advantage to companies.
Likewise, ultrafine bubbles can reduce and eliminate the need for other thickeners, gums and emulsifiers that have fallen out of favor with some consumers who are seeking so-called “clean” ingredients.
Hydrosome’s technology further could enhance the nutritional profile of products depending on the type of gas inside the ultrafine bubbles.
The company currently uses ambient air but is testing the use of other gasses, such as options that could enhance taste, sensory and mouthfeel that ultimately could aid with sugar reduction, Jackowetz said.
Emerging research conducted by the company also suggests ultrafine bubbles could help support gut health. A rodent study found the addition of ultrafine bubbles in water could help modulate and change the gut microbiome in a positive way, including reducing inflammation.
This dovetails nicely with rising consumer interest in gut health and the need for products that are gentle on the stomach and can ease inflammation in consumers taking weight loss medications.
Global Food Tech Awards’ EMEA heat opens soon
Hydrosome Labs’ victory in the Americas wave of the Global Food Tech Awards was the first of three chances for food tech startups to connect with industry leaders, investors and influencers.
The EMEA heat will open in March 2025 and finalists will be announced at Future Food-Tech in London Sept. 24-25 and the APAC heat will open in August with finalists announced at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore Nov. 4-6.
Learn more about the competition and enter to win before the global champion is announced at the end of the year.
Videograph, editing and production by Caroline Rude