# US 11,896,031 B2 · Microbial-based process for high quality protein concentrate

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- Number: US 11,896,031 B2
- Document ID: US11896031B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/581,535
- Filed: 2022-01-21
- Published: 2022-05-12
- Granted: 2024-02-13
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-02
- Assignees: The South Dakota Board of Regent, as Governing Board for South Dakota State University
- Applicants: The South Dakota Board of Regents, AS Governing Board for South Dakota State University
- Inventors: William Gibbons; Michael Brown
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11896031B2

## CPC

- A23J 1/125: {by treatment involving enzymes or microorganisms (enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins A23J3/34)}
- A23J 1/14: from leguminous or other vegetable seeds; from press-cake or oil-bearing seeds
- A23J 1/148: {by treatment involving enzymes or microorganisms (enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins A23J3/34)}
- A23K 10/14: Pretreatment of feeding-stuffs with enzymes
- A23K 10/38: from distillers' or brewers' waste
- A23K 20/147: Polymeric derivatives, e.g. peptides or proteins
- A23K 40/20: by moulding, e.g. making cakes or briquettes
- A23K 40/25: by extrusion
- A23K 50/80: for aquatic animals, e.g. fish, crustaceans or molluscs
- Y02A 40/818: Alternative feeds for fish, e.g. in aquacultures
- Y02P 60/87: Re-use of by-products of food processing for fodder production
- A23J: PROTEIN COMPOSITIONS FOR FOODSTUFFS; WORKING-UP PROTEINS FOR FOODSTUFFS; PHOSPHATIDE COMPOSITIONS FOR FOODSTUFFS
- A23K: FODDER
- Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS

## Abstract

The present invention describes a bio-based process to produce high quality protein concentrate (HQPC) by converting plant derived celluloses into bioavailable protein via aerobic incubation, including the use of such HQPC so produced as a nutrient, including use as a fish meal replacement in aquaculture diets.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of producing a protein concentrate from a distillery/brewery or milling by-product and/or portions thereof comprising:
a. (i) forming a mash from the distillery/brewery by-product or (ii) forming a mash from the milling by-product, and optionally adding one or more hydrolyzing enzymes;
b. transferring the mash to a bioreactor;
c. inoculating the mash in the bioreactor with at least one microbe;
d. recovering the inoculated material via hydrodynamic force;
e. separating the resulting supernatant and solids; and
f. drying said solids,
wherein the resulting protein concentrate comprises proteins, microbes, and exopolysaccharides and has a higher protein content than the distillery/brewery or milling by-product not exposed to said process steps.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein any ethanol present in step (e) is removed by distillation.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is subject to dry-fractionation to reduce fiber therein.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one microbe is selected from Aureobasidium pullulans, Sclerotium glucanicum, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Ralstonia eutropha, Rhodospirillum rubrum, Kluyveromyces spp, Pichia spp, Trichoderma reesei, Pleurotus ostreatus, Rhizopus spp, or combinations thereof.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is selected from the group consisting of whole stillage, thin stillage, condensed distillers solubles, distillers wet grains, distillers dried grains, and/or portions thereof and combinations thereof.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the milling by-product is selected from germ meal, corn gluten meal, or combinations thereof.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one microbe is Aureobasidium pullulans selected from the group consisting of NRRL No. 50792, NRRL No. 50793, NRRL No. 50794, NRRL No. 50795, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one microbe is NRRL 50793.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is from corn, wheat or barley.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is produced from yeast fermentation.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the supernatant comprises ethanol and CO2, and said yeast is a Saccharomyces yeast.

### Claim 12 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the resulting distilled liquid is recycled in combination with distillery/brewery by-product to form a mash.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the solids are optionally washed and re-exposed to hydrodynamic force prior to drying.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising autoclaving the mash.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein recovery by hydrodynamic force is selected from the group consisting of centrifugation, filtration, spray drying and combinations thereof.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

A composition comprising the protein concentrate produced by the method of claim 1.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, wherein the at least one microbe is Aureobasidium pullulans selected from the group consisting of NRRL No. 50792, NRRL No. 50793, NRRL No. 50794, NRRL No. 50795, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

An animal feed comprising the protein concentrate of claim 16, wherein said protein concentrate comprises at least 5% of said animal feed by weight.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The composition of claim 17, wherein the at least one microbe is NRRL 50793.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, further comprising a component selected from the group consisting of wheat, wheat middlings, barley, corn, soybean meal, corn gluten meal, distiller's wet grains (DWG), salts, macro-minerals, trace minerals, vitamins, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 21 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is selected from the group consisting of whole stillage, thin stillage, condensed distillers solubles, distillers wet grains, distillers dried grains, and/or portions thereof and combinations thereof.

### Claim 22 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, wherein the milling by-product is selected from the group consisting of germ meal, corn gluten meal, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 23 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is distillers wet grains.

### Claim 24 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, wherein the distillery/brewery by-product is distillers dried grains.

### Claim 25 (depends on 16)

The composition of claim 16, further comprising high-quality soy protein concentrate (HQSPC).