The XyloPrO-CX project aims to improve the microbial fermentation process used for sustainable production of eco-friendly xylitol from lignocellulosic fermentations. The project is a joint effort between ARCITEKBio Ltd. (ABL) and AberInnovation. ARCITEKBio Ltd. (ABL) is a cleantech company and their vision is to produce sustainable sweeteners following three founding principles - sustainable growth, pursuit of impactful innovation and value creation. Their primary aim is to commercialise the proprietary EcoXyl process, an end-to-end biotechnological platform, for manufacturing xylitol from mutli-sectoral waste streams. Excessive sugar consumption in modern diets is strongly linked to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardio-vascular disorders. Xylitol is naturally found in fresh fruit, has equal sweetness to table sugar albeit with 40% fewer calories, inhibits tooth decay, does not cause any insulin spike upon consumption and as such has wide-ranging applications in maintaining dietary, dental and diabetic health. As such the polyol has found widespread use in dental, dietary and diabetes health applications with its global market forecasted to exceed £1.1 bn by 2028 (CAGR of 6-8%). Conventional xylitol manufacture via a chemical process is costly, inefficient, requires toxic catalysts, and can cause high effluent generation making it unsustainable and environmentally burdensome. Using a fermentation-based biological manufacture route, EcoXyL can overcome the aforementioned challenges thus offering an eco-friendly, cost competitive and sustainable manufacturing alternative. In the current project, participants aim to build upon previous technical developments to improve the commercialisation prospects of fermentation-based xylitol production. Support from AberInnovation will allow further technology development, increase social awareness around xylitol and establish resilient Welsh value-chains for sustainable manufacture. The project will further xylitol's application as a sugar substitute and de-risk EcoXyL commercialisation to supply the global billion-dollar market. The project participants collectively strive to curtail the global sugar epidemic and promote sustainable living whilst ensuring job creation and clean growth.

Xylitol is a sweetener found naturally in fresh fruit and has 33% fewer calories than table sugar, inhibits tooth decay, is metabolised independently of insulin in the body, and as such has application in maintaining dietary, dental and diabetic health. While xylitol is present in plants, the quantities are so low that it is not economically feasible to extract it commercially and industrial production relies on chemical synthesis that uses acid, high temperature, pressure and a heavy metal catalyst to produce xylitol. Using proprietary microbes, the start-up company ARCITEKBio Ltd. has developed an environmentally friendly fermentation process to produce xylitol using crop waste such as wheat straw. The objective of this project is to enable ARCITEKBio Ltd. to scale-up the xylitol production process, validate the techno-economics of this industrial biotechnology (IB) against the traditional chemical synthesis method. Once the pure product is produced at scale, it will be shared with collaborative end-users for beta-testing and early stage regulatory assessments. With the market value for xylitol anticipated to reach £1 billion by 2025 and growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2%, ARCITEKBio Ltd is looking to secure further funding and partners within the supply chain to ultimately commercialise the IB-mediated production of xylitol in the UK and possibly further afield.