Production Of Natural Astaxanthin Expanded

Naturxan, LLC, a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company and Igene Biotechnology, Inc., has announced that it has completed an expansion of its production and distribution capabilities to provide worldwide availability of Aquasta®, a naturally sourced astaxanthin made from Phaffia yeast for enriching and pigmenting salmon and trout consuming aquaculture feeds.

Richard Grelewicz, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Our recent efforts help ensure we can provide feed manufacturers and fish producers around the world with a stable, year-round supply of high quality, industry-tested, naturally-sourced astaxanthin. Over the last year, we have invested more than $3 million of capital and dedicated significant science and engineering resources into scaling production capacity and inventory volume to fulfill ongoing customer demand."

With access to ADM's production and transportation network, along with export and distribution centers in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia, Naturxan can reliably deliver Aquasta wherever and whenever it is needed around the world.

While the aquaculture industry was once dependent on synthetic, non-renewable sources of astaxanthin to achieve the signature pink color of wild salmon, naturally sourced Aquasta has proven as effective as synthetic astaxanthin through tests of various feed product extrusion processes, production timelines, storage temperatures, and in commercial field trials involving fresh, frozen and smoked fish such as Atlantic salmon, Coho salmon and rainbow trout.

Aquasta is made from renewable ingredients without the use of petrochemicals or recombinant DNA modification to the production organism, and therefore satisfies the health and purchasing preferences of consumers and retailers that prefer naturally derived aquaculture products. Aquasta is accepted by key organic programs around the world, including Naturland, BioSuisse, DEBIO, KRAV, DEFRA, the Organic Food Federation, the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association and Agriculture Biologique, among others.

Dr Stephen Hiu, Chief Technology Officer, commented: "We believe Aquasta provides benefits that cannot be found in other sources which claim to be natural, making us the clear choice in the aquaculture market. Aquasta does not pigment fish with adonirubin, which is not naturally found in salmon at the very high levels as that resulting from the use of the competitive product."