Plant cell promise: How Ayana Bio uses technology to unlock bioactives in botanicals

19 Feb 2024 --- A growing body of research supports the various health benefits of bioactives — molecules or active compounds found in plants and fungi. At the same time, extracting these compounds from plants can be expensive and inefficient. Instead, Ayana Bio identifies, creates and scales these molecules for nutritional solutions through plant cell technology. 

“If you want to replicate the full vital complex of bioactives contained in botanicals, plant cells are the only tool to do that,” Frank Jaksch, CEO of Ayana Bio, tells Nutrition Insight.

He says plant cell technology has been around for 15-20 years, but at the time, “it was a tool that was not accessible for producing anything. The technology has changed so much because of the emergence of synthetic biology and the tool sets created to serve the market.” 

By producing bioactives in plant cell cultivation, bioactives are not impacted by climate, pesticides, soil and water contamination. Each batch is uniform and identical to the biomass makeup of plants produced with traditional agriculture. 

Bioactive control 
Jaksch underscores that plant cell technology offers much more control over the production of bioactives. 

“Most plant bioactives are stress-induced molecules, meaning that the production of those bioactives in the plant is a result of some specific type of stress that causes the plant to produce those bioactives.” 

Such stressors depend on the growing conditions of a plant, impacted by many factors such as location, climate, rain, heat, light, insect pressure, mildew and mold. 

“There’s a million different things that can potentially impact a crop at any given moment; there’s no control over that. If you can’t control it, then there’s no way you can control the production of the bioactives.” 

Consistent production is critical to deliver the health and wellness benefits of bioactives, highlights Jaksch. “If there’s inconsistency, then people are not going to get what they’re paying for in terms of the products they’re buying that are supposed to contain the bioactives that deliver that promise.” 

“Plant cells are the perfect fix to that because we can control everything in producing those plant cells. They’re the same cells in the plant, and we’re using the same mechanisms already there — the same genes and DNA. We don’t have to recreate that.” 

Moreover, he explains plant cell technology’s advantage over precision fermentation, where engineered organisms produce certain nutrients or food products. “When you engineer yeast to produce something, it will only produce one thing. It can’t produce the full set of bioactives contained in a plant; it can’t replicate that.” 

Selection process 
Selecting the best potential candidates for plant cell technology is complicated, explains Jaksch. Ayana Bio developed a matrix to determine where to deploy resources. “Like any other small start-up company, resources are finite, so we can only do so much. You have to bet on the stuff you think has the best chance.”

According to Ayana Bio, plant cell technology offers more control over the production of bioactives (Image credit: Ayana Bio).Technical feasibility is an essential first step — determining whether it is possible to develop plant cells. 

“Once you develop those plant cells, can you control the production of the bioactives the way you want to? Then, is there a market for it? When you finally get there, is there already a large existing market for the things we will make?” 

“That’s one of the things that we’re trying to look for — if there are large existing markets for these bioactives and we come up with a better way of making them, it’s going to be desirable.”

Jaksch details that plant cell-derived saffron offers a clear advantage. “Saffron is so expensive, it’s hard to grow and suffers from various climate change-related problems. The areas that are the most common sources for saffron are suffering from climate change-related impact, crop reduction, failure and reduced crop yields.” 

Last year, Ayana Bio also launched the first plant cell-cultivated lemon balm and echinacea, yielding products with the same bioactive composition of these botanicals that can replace their counterparts in food supplements for sleep, mood and immune support. 

Commercial interest 
Commercial partnerships, such as the joint development agreement recently signed with South Korea-based Wooree Green Science, show “commercial interest for plant cells and Ayana’s approach to developing plant cells,” says Jaksch. 

“This is the first collaborative joint development agreement we’re announcing, and I expect others to follow.”

“The main goal of these collaborative agreements is to align with commercial partners,” he continues. “When we can find partners in specific countries that understand the value proposition that we have in creating these bioactives and they’re committed to it at an early stage that they’re willing to jump on board before we even have the products finished through the R&D phase, this is fantastic.” 

The first step in selecting bioactives for plant cell technology is technical feasibility — determining whether it is possible to develop plant cells.Before signing off the agreement, both parties agreed to collaboratively develop plant cell-based bioactives for saffron and lutein from marigolds as beneficial for the types of functional foods or supplements Wooree Green Science aims to launch in South Korea. 

“Part of the company’s platform is built on its liposomal delivery system to deliver dietary supplements or food-based type products. Both of these ingredients are a good fit for that.”

Jaksch explains that saffron is an exciting candidate for plant cell technology due to its expensive and limited supply and research on various health benefits. Lutein has a large existing market and well-established health benefits. 

“Marigold is the major source. A natural product is still the main source of lutein, a carotenoid. It’s a plant pigment used for a wide variety of health-related benefits, with eye health being one of the major ones, where it helps the repigmentation of the eye. Other markets that have been emerging for the use of lutein include cognition or brain health, which fits the types of products they want to launch.” 

The partners haven’t disclosed development timelines for these products, details Jaksch. 

“The idea is to produce powdered forms of both ingredients that would be suitable for use and inclusion or formulation into the types of products that Wooree Green Science will launch.” 

By Jolanda van Hal