March 27, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Israeli molecular farming company PoLoPo has emerged from stealth to introduce its SuperAA platform with the ability to turn a simple potato into a biofactory. Currently deployed in potatoes at greenhouse scale, this technology is capable of producing both patatin – a native potato protein – as well as ovalbumin, the protein found in chicken eggs, through proprietary metabolic engineering. 

PoLoPo was co-founded in 2022 by Sapir-Mir and Raya Liberman-Aloni, PhD, who both worked in the biotech industry and agricultural R&D for more than a decade following the completion of their studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and post-doctoral work at the Volcani Institute, the leading agricultural R&D facility in Israel.

Last year, the company closed on $2.3 million in Pre-Seed funding from leading food tech investors and now has backing from FoodLabs, Milk & Honey Ventures, CPT Capital, Siddhi Capital, Plug & Play, and Hack Capital, enabling it to rapidly develop its potato-to-protein pipeline.

This cutting-edge platform turns potato plants into micro-biotactories that manufacture targeted amino acids in the plant and store them in the tuber. When they reach a sufficient size, the tubers are then harvested and the protein extracted to be dried into powder. The resulting powder can then be seamlessly integrated into food formulations and processing methods. 

“The SuperAA platform uses plants as living factories, and leverages their natural productivity and storage organs to grow proteins that are identical to protein derived from a chicken’s egg,” saidMaya Sapir-Mir, PhD, CEO, PoLoPo.

“The high-scale production of proteins in plants via molecular farming has the potential to economically transform not only potato farming and processing, but broader agriculture and agtech, for a more resilient and sustainable food system.”

The company explained that it chose to start with potatoes due to their resilience in diverse climates, low growth cost, short maturation time, relatively large storage capacity in their tubers, high yield-to-land use, and compatibility with existing harvesting and processing technology. 

Furthermore, strategically, for PoLoPo’s commercial goals, the potato offers efficiency, sustainability, and poses an attractive economic opportunity for established agricultural and industrial food producers, presenting a robust and cost-effective path to scale for its molecular farming system. 

Currently, the SuperAA platform is being used to develop increased levels of papatin and ovalbumin. Patatin powder can be used as an allergy-free protein in a variety of products including plant-based meat and dairy items, baked goods, cereals, snacks, beverages, sports nutrition, and nutraceuticals. And at its core, a high-patatin potato in and of itself can improve food security in regions impacted by malnutrition. 

Ovalbumin is widely used in packaged foods for its functional properties such as texture and stability enhancement, as well as its ability to boost nutritional value and prolong shelf life. These properties have created a high-demand market for ovalbumin powder, which is expected to reach a value of $36 billion by 2032.  

PoLoPo’s ovalbumin is an affordable alternative to a high-value ingredient for an industry challenged by rising egg prices, supply chain instability, and avian flu outbreaks, and the company explained that its powder will soon be available to the food industry for testing. 

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.