Agrifood

Singapore has a high consumption of fruits and vegetables, both locally produced and imported, and a significant portion of the total waste generated is derived from fruits and vegetables. These fruits and vegetables contain untapped nutritional and functional properties that can be upcycled into higher value products. This institute of higher learning has developed a technology with the know-how to cultivate microorganisms and a series of zero-waste extraction and purification methods to maximize the value of fruit peels into functional food ingredients.  This technology is designed for three types of industry players: i) fruit vending/processing industry with abundance of good quality fruit by-products; ii) waste management industry with technologies to value add to the by-products; and iii) start-ups with keen interest to upcycle by-products into novel food ingredients.

As climate change continues to cause rising temperatures and unpredictable droughts, the resulting environmental degradation and poor soil conditions have negative impacts on plant health and nutrition, ultimately affecting crop harvests and the global food chain. In Singapore, these changes threaten the very heart of the city's reputation as a garden city, including greenery, carbon sequestration, and aesthetically pleasing landscapes. To combat these issues and improve greening outcomes and land yield, enhancing soil conditions and plant resilience is crucial. One significant issue that needs addressing is soil water repellence, which prevents water from penetrating the soil, leading to rapid evaporation and reduced plant growth. This problem becomes more severe on sloping terrains like mounds and hillsides, where water is more likely to run off causing additional issues like soil compaction and disease. Soil water repellency also affects the hydrological and geomorphological properties of soil, leading to reduced infiltration capacity, accelerated soil erosion, uneven wetting patterns, development of preferential flow, and the accelerated leaching of agrichemicals. This technology refers to a specifically engineered nanogel formulation that controls water retention and release in dry soils. The nanogel formulation can uptake water-soluble nutrients and release them when needed. It has the potential to not only improve reclaimed land but also convert dry land into productive land that supports crop cultivation. The nanogel formulation can be tuned with varying retention capabilities based on underlying soil conditions and has been extensively tested in different plant species. The technology provider is currently looking for test-bedding partners from the agricultural industry and interested environmental NGOs.  

Conventional soil remediation methods, such as thermal desorption, are costly and require the disposal of the resource, taking up space in landfills. These methods also alter the physical properties of the soil, which can have negative consequences for soil health and plant growth. Bioaugmentation is a promising new technology that offers a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional soil remediation methods. Bioaugmentation involves the addition of chemical-degrading microorganisms to the contaminated site. These microorganisms break down the pollutants into harmless byproducts, allowing the land, soil, and water to be reused. The bioaugmentation technology developed is highly portable and does not require the deployment of large machinery on-site. This makes it a cost-effective and efficient option for soil remediation, especially in remote or difficult-to-access areas. The soil after treatment is compliant with the current United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) and Australian standards (below 1,000 ppm Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH)). The technology has also been proven to be effective in tropical climates. Overall, bioaugmentation is a promising new technology that offers a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional soil remediation methods. It is a cost-effective and efficient option for soil remediation, especially in remote or difficult-to-access areas. The technology has also been proven to be effective in tropical climates. The technology provider is seeking a partner to test the feasibility of our treated soil for farming and land restoration purposes, and to develop a formulation for soil rehabilitation for farming and food production without the use of fertilizers.

A challenge faced by many chemical processing plants is the high process temperature and high energy consumption. For example, in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) production process, one of the commonly used approaches of concentrating the medicine is by evaporation. This process operates at 100°C and aims to remove 2/3 of the total amount of water from the feed solution. The main issues are: High operating temperature causing irreversible damage to the active ingredients. Taking up 75% of the overall energy consumed. 2-3 days to process one batch of the extracted liquid. Labour-intensive and hard to scale up. Furthermore, as the production is operated in batch mode, the boiler needs to be turned off and on (heating and cooling) frequently. To overcome these challenges, the membrane – pervaporation system has been developed. The operating principles have been tested at laboratory scale using actual TCM products. The operating temperature can be lowered so that the risk of damage to the active ingredients is reduced. It was computed that an energy saving of 39% can be achieved. The team that designed and developed the system is well-versed with membrane technology and is ready to transfer the know-how and knowledge. They are seeking partners to collaborate and further develop this proof-of-concept for commercial deployment, targeting applications where thermal damage to high value active ingredients are of concern.     

Routine monitoring of water quality is paramount in aquaculture operations such as Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) to ensure high productivity and high produce quality. Currently, the monitoring of microbial content in water is mostly based on visualisation of water turbidity and observation of fish behaviour. Some RAS operations use the bacterial culture-based approach for surveillance of microbial quality of water. However, this approach is laborious, requires microbiological testing expertise, and test results are obtainable only after a long incubation period.  Bioluminescent ATP assay is another method that can be used to monitor microbial content. However, it requires lysis of bacteria to release the ATP contained inside the bacteria, and enzymatic reaction of luciferase on ATP to produce the luminescence. While it provides results within a short time, the cost of luciferase, lysis reagents and luminometer could be prohibitive for routine and extensive testing of water samples.   The technology owner has developed a non-enzymatic test reagent which gives a rapid colour change in the presence of Gram-negative bacteria. The technology owner is keen to collaborate with manufacturers of analytical instruments and diagnostic test kits, as well as partners from the aquaculture, biomedical and water quality control industries, to further develop and commercialise this technology.

One-fifth of all local and imported food in Singapore and about 15% of all food globally is spoiled during the supply chain due to inadequate food transport facilities. To overcome this, the startup offers a patented technology in the form of a hardware device that emits a magnetic interference field. It can be used throughout the supply chain starting immediately after harvest and all the way to storage and display. In particular, this technology has great potential to be applied during the food transportation when the chance of spoilage is highest due to reasons such as overripening caused by supply chain delays. The startup is looking to collaborate with food logistics and storage companies, as well as retailers, to integrate their solution.

In a world where resources are diminishing and demands are rising, the value of land has significantly increased for clean energy and food production. Agrivoltaic farming represents a potential game-changing solution that can bring substantial benefits to both the energy and food sectors. The patented technology is a tubular solar photovoltaic (PV) module designed for agrivoltaic farming. The unique tubular nature of the system allows sunlight, water, and wind to reach the plants below while simultaneously harnessing solar power. Moreover, the tubular modules can provide consistent partial shading to protect the plants and reduce ambient temperature and ground moisture loss. This technology enables the dual use of land by integrating agricultural activities such as farming and gardening with solar power generation, maximising the value derived from the limited land. The combination of energy harvesting and agriculture has significant potential to improve farming productivity, increase land-use efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and promote environmental sustainability. The technology owner is keen to collaborate with partners interested in agrivoltaic farming like farmers, gardeners, agritech companies, research centres, and ministries to test-bed and adopt their tubular solar PV technology. The technology owner is also seeking industrial partners (e.g., manufacturers, system integrators, architects, designers, etc) to co-develop a complete solar energy solution or integrate the tubular solar PV modules into specific use cases.

Blowflies are insects often used for scientific research in fields such as forensics, veterinary science, ecology, and biology. Scientists study them at different stages of their lives, including maggots and adult blowflies.This technology relates to a fully operational and scalable multi-species insectary (Arthropod Containment Level 2) which focuses on harnessing the potential of non-medical blowflies for agricultural and waste management sectors. Firstly, blowfly maggots can be produced at scale to act as biodigesters to break down and convert agri-food waste or side streams to valuable blowfly insect protein. With additional processing, bioactive compounds can be extracted from these insect proteins with diverse applications in medicine and industry. When maggots mature into blowflies, they can be deployed for all-year-round insect pollination instead of bees. This can be conducted in controlled environments, including Indoor Vertical Farms, Greenhouses, and Polytunnels. This application has been validated with state-of-the-art UV lighting technology where blowflies are adept at locating flowers and conducting crucial pollination activities. The technology provider is actively seeking collaborative partnerships with stakeholders from the agriculture sector to enhance crop yields for farmers, while also aiming to collaborate with the waste management industry in order to minimize waste generation and transform it into valuable products through recycling.

Diabetes is a prevalent and growing health problem worldwide, affecting 1 in 10 people, with 90% of cases being type 2 diabetes. Congenital diabetes also affects 1 in 6 live births. In the next 20 years, diabetes is projected to increase by 46%. More than half a billion people are affected globally, 400,000 of them are in Singapore and if nothing is done by 2050, there will be one million diabetics patients in Singapore.   The company offers two technical solutions in form of a blended powder format: 1) Low Glycaemic Index (GI) and 2) Low Glycaemic Index (GI) with added protein.   The blend is plant-based, a source of protein, high in dietary fibre and replaces sugar from 20% to 100% in recipes across various food and beverage applications, it is versatile, high solubility, no alternation to original taste.   The solution is primarily targeted at Food Service sectors operators and manufacturers who seeks to penetrate the reduced sugar food & beverage market.