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March 11, 2008 - EnWave Corporation Receives Promising Results on Dehydration of Probiotics and Enzymes
Company Plans New Bulk Powder Prototype
Vancouver, BC - EnWave Corporation (TSX-V: ENW) ("EnWave" or "the Company") today announced that it has successfully applied its Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) technology to dehydrate probiotics and enzymes used in the food and fine biochemical industries.
EnWave has now conducted a range of internal and third-party tests to determine the feasibility of using REV technology in dehydrating probiotics and enzymes. As with other REV applications, EnWave is seeking an alternative to the industry standard of freeze drying, which is time consuming and expensive, and can require constant refrigeration of the end product during storage and shipment. If successful, commercial-scale dehydration of probiotics and enzymes using REV would serve to reduce manufacturing and distribution costs while improving retention and shelf-life of live material in the end product.
Dr. Tim Durance, EnWave Corporation’s Chairman and Co-CEO, stated that “EnWave has received encouraging results from our research in using REV to dehydrate probiotics and enzymes in small vials, and additional research will now be undertaken to refine the process and design equipment suitable for meeting commercial processing requirements in this industry.”
Enzymes are proteins occurring in nature that help speed up biochemical processes. In the food industry, enzymes are used in the production of everything from wine and cheese to corn syrup and baked goods. Enzymes allow food manufacturers to produce more of a particular product in a shorter amount of time, eliminate the need for harmful chemicals in the production process, and in some cases reduce water and energy consumption. The US$4.1 billion global enzyme market is forecast to grow 7.6 percent annually through 2011, according to The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.
Probiotics are “friendly” bacteria that reside in the intestinal tract and are commonly added to foods such as yogurt and other dairy products to promote good health. A growing number of studies suggest that these tiny, living organisms fight digestive disorders and boost the ability to ward off some infections. While they thrive in dairy products, probiotics are difficult to keep alive in a dried environment. As a result, food manufacturers are continuing to look for new technologies that will convert live, active probiotics to a dry format in order to introduce a wider range of probiotic-fortified food products such as cereal bars, dry cereals and snack foods. According to BCC Research, the U.S. market for probiotics reached $764 million in 2005 and is expected to increase at an average annual growth rate of 7.1 percent to $1.1 billion in 2010.
EnWave’s goal is to develop new REV technology capable of dehydrating probiotics and enzymes using a continuous bulk powder processing method. The initial proof of concept, expected later in 2008, will be used to determine the feasibility and commercial scalability of the technology. A successful bulk powder processing method for dehydrating food cultures will also compliment EnWave’s current work in the pharmaceutical field where freeze-dried bulk powder processing is widely used in pharmaceutical production including antibiotics and certain types of vaccines and antibodies.
EnWave Corporation
John McNicol
President and CO-CEO
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About EnWave
Using proprietary technologies developed in conjunction with the University of British Columbia, EnWave is focused on the development of new methods of dehydrating biological materials using Radiant Energy Vacuum technology under its bioREV and nutraREV brands. REV technology combines microwave energy transfer with pressure control to dehydrate and alter structures and drive chemical reactions, thereby creating unique product characteristics for both food products and medical applications that include dry vaccines. More information about EnWave is available at www.enwave.net.
For further information: Dr. Tim Durance, Chairman and Co-CEO, or Mr. John McNicol, President and Co-CEO at (604) 806-6110, fax (604) 806-6112.
Investor Relations: Martin Livingston at (604) 657-8234
Safe Harbour for Forward-Looking Information Statements: This release may contain forward-looking information based on management's expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this release include: “seeking to produce”, “if successful”, and “expected”. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions: there is no guarantee that the Company’s nutraREV and bioREV technologies can or will be used to create commercial-scale food products; even if the Company’s nutraREV and bioREV technologies can be used as described in this news release, there is no guarantee that such use will result in successful commercialization.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. |
