BOSTON — Nosh.bio will leverage strain optimization services from Ginkgo Bioworks to screen for protein-producing fungi strains with superior sensorial profiles, the two companies said on Oct. 2. The partnership aims to produce a mycoprotein that delivers a rich, savory and natural meat taste when used in food products.
Berlin-based Nosh.bio, a startup company, develops ingredients from fungal biomass for animal-free food products. Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks has a platform for cell programming and biosecurity.
Ginkgo Bioworks aims to discover and deliver a strain of fungi with higher native proteins that will allow Nosh.bio to achieve the desired meat taste, juiciness and color. Ginkgo Bioworks will execute a mutagenesis and screening campaign with its proprietary encapsulation and screening technology (EncapS), which makes it possible to search through up to 1 million strain variants in a single run and select the best performing ones for further development.
“Nosh.bio is eager to enable the transition from animal-based to animal-free products,” said Tim Fronzek, chief executive officer and founder of Nosh.bio. “Our affordable, high-quality, plant-based ingredients can build a product that's even closer to meat in taste and texture than alt-protein options currently on the market. What really excites us about partnering with Ginkgo is their accelerated screening technology that can help us pinpoint and develop a super 'meaty' mycoprotein."
