Vitamin B12 calculator could reduce manufacturing price amid rising vegan need

(All photo credits: Dr. Tessa Young/Durham University)

22 Feb 2021 --- UK researchers have created a calculator that could improve the biomanufacturing of vitamin B12. It is currently the most expensive vitamin on the market, and with the rise of vegan diets – which can often lead to vitamin B12 deficiencies – this space is ripe for innovation.

The scientists found the corrin ring, or core component, of all active forms of vitamin B12 contains cobalt and cannot be produced without it. Cobalt is supplied by a metal delivery enzyme that “previously wasn’t understood.” 

“Moreover, we learned how to calculate whether the enzyme is supplying cobalt efficiently or not,” corresponding author Dr. Tessa Young of the Department of Biosciences at Durham University tells NutritionInsight.

“This knowledge can be used to optimize the supply of cobalt to vitamin B12 and increase yields to make supplements more affordable.” 

The calculator itself provides information about how metals are distributed to proteins inside cells. The study was conducted in partnership between the Quadram Institute and Durham University, published in Nature Communications.

Decade long research in B12 optimization
Ensuring that the metal delivery enzyme is actually supplying enough cobalt, and not becoming clogged-up with a wrong element, remains an obstacle in large-scale vitamin B­12 production.

“By understanding the mechanism that distributes vital metals, it has become possible to produce a calculator that industrial biotechnologists can use to optimize their manufacturing reactions,” Young notes.

Vitamin B12 plays a role in supporting red blood cell production, energy, metabolism and nerve function, but is neither made, nor required, by plants.“The calculator has been tested in the production of vitamin B12 and we hope to see it adopted by biotechnology manufacturers to help foster a more sustainable future.”

Safety considerations
Manufacturers may want to use information obtained from the calculator to increase the supply of cobalt to vitamin B12 to produce higher yields of this supplement. 

“Adding lots of cobalt to the cultures could have safety implications because cobalt by itself is toxic,” explains Young.

“Instead, it will be preferable to optimize the supply using trace amounts of cobalt that will already be present in the growth culture. The calculator enables us to do this.”

The calculator has also revealed zinc may interfere with cobalt-delivery for vitamin B12. “A modest reduction in the amount of zinc in the culture could present another safer alternative to adding more cobalt,” she adds.

Vegan diets on the rise
Making vitamin B12 more affordable is crucial considering it is currently the most expensive vitamin on the market, “prohibitively so for many of the people in the world who need it the most,” says Young. 

Due to its complex molecular structure, B12 is currently not feasible to mass-produce via conventional chemical synthesis.

Instead, it is the only vitamin produced exclusively by bioproduction using bacteria cultures that naturally produce B12.

“Plants do not make vitamin B12 and so demand for this supplement is liable to increase if individuals adopt sustainable diets containing more plant-based foods.”  

A record 560,000 people signed up to Veganuary 2021.Early this year, a record 560,000 people signed up to Veganuary 2021, highlighting the diet’s growing global popularity.

Innova Market Insight further sees vegan diets gaining more attraction via its top trend “Plant Forward,” predicting the plant-based” revolution’s rising mainstream appeal will drive expansion to different regions and categories in 2021.

Applications outside of nutrition
Currently, most vitamins are manufactured using chemical synthesis, Young explains. “Biotechnological methods, which use enzymes and renewable resources for the manufacturing process, are being developed, but most of these are not yet economically viable.”

About half of enzymes are estimated to require metals. In addition to cobalt and zinc, these metals include magnesium, manganese, iron, nickel and copper. 

“The calculator presents the possibility of optimizing a range of industrial biotechnology processes that depend upon the activities of metalloenzymes, not just for vitamin B12 and not exclusively in the nutrition industry,” she concludes.

By Anni Schleicher

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