CASE STUDY / CO-DEVELOPMENT
Wheat bran.
Reimagined.
AI-designed fermentation for vitamin B12 enrichment and lower phytic acid. From an ingredient challenge to a protocol tested in the laboratory.
Vitamin B12
Selected fermentation sample, wet basis.
Lower phytic acid
Versus the standard-medium reference.
Descriptive comparison.
THE DEVELOPMENT QUESTION
New nutritional potential
from a familiar cereal stream.
The brief was to produce vitamin B12 and reduce phytate in wheat bran, with iron availability as the longer-term nutritional objective.
Design a testable protocol
Siftlink’s AI fermentation process design model connected candidate biology, nutrient requirements and a staged fermentation architecture.
Test and refine
BFH-HAFL tested the predicted protocol alongside variants with different settings and parameters. The proposed protocol performed best in the reported tests.
Measure the outcomes
BFH-HAFL measured vitamin B12. ETH Zurich measured phytic acid. SNHf supported the project as scientific partner.
LABORATORY VALIDATION
The result, in context.
The generated protocol led to 86.44 μg vitamin B12/100 mL and 34.8% less phytic acid than the standard-medium reference.
- Vitamin B12 measurement
- 86.44 ± 0.57 μg/100 mL; immunoaffinity/HPLC.
- Phytic acid comparison
- 0.859 vs 1.318 mg/mL; VIS assay, n = 3 analytical replicates. Not paired before/after data.
- Development status
- A process-control deviation was recorded. Batch reproducibility, ingredient suitability and processing retention require further validation.
- Iron availability
- Iron bioavailability has not been measured. It remains a longer-term nutritional objective.
THE NEXT DEVELOPMENT STEP
A route into
premium vegan nutrition.
A fermentation-derived B12 ingredient could help millers and food brands explore vegan cereals, granolas and nutrition-led foods.
We are looking for a co-development partner to advance the cereal ingredient through further validation and application development.
A development opportunity. Commercial scale, suitability and performance in finished products remain to be established.
LET’S MOVE FORWARD
Co-develop a B12-enriched cereal ingredient.
Discuss a joint development project. Technical discussion under NDA.