The DSM Innovation Center (DSM) and NutraCea have entered a joint research and development agreement (JDA). Under the terms of the agreement, NutraCea and DSM will share existing patented and proprietary intellectual property and know-how to investigate extraction and modification of high quality vegetable proteins from rice bran.

DSM’s Remco van Es, Business Manager Food & Feed Segment, commented: “After our initial analysis of climate change impacts on global agricultural output in the context of a growing world population, we realized that mining for food components like proteins from vegetable agricultural side streams or bio-refineries could play an important role as part of a solution. Furthermore, when it comes to the nitrogen cycle our planet’s sustainable limits have already been exceeded by at least 200%. It is only logical to investigate possibilities to harvest protein from currently underdeveloped sources like rice bran.”

Rob van Leen, Chief Innovation Officer at DSM, added, “While we fully realize that the world will continue to need animal derived proteins, we believe it is important to explore ways of extracting proteins from plant material, and we aim to make a contribution in this area. NutraCea’s management team, headed by John Short and Leo Gingras, have restructured their company to focus only on rice bran derived products and rice bran bio-refining. Their proprietary and patented technologies and expertise in the field of rice bran combined with DSM’s technology base in bio-based products form the perfect platform to tackle this plant-based protein challenge. This project fits extremely well within our sustainability and innovation focus at DSM.”

NutraCea’s CEO, W. John Short, commented, “This Joint Research and Development Agreement between DSM and NutraCea provides the opportunity for our two companies to join forces in the development and potential commercialization of protein from rice bran targeted to human food and ingredient applications. To feed a growing world population, additional alternative sources of protein will become increasingly important. The intrinsic product characteristics of rice bran—hypoallergenic, gluten-free, full range of amino acids, and easy digestibility leading to high bioavailability—can serve as a valuable additional protein source for our growing world population. In that context, working together with DSM provides the opportunity for our two companies to take advantage of an underutilized co-product of an existing resource—rice bran—obtained from the existing global rice crop as a sustainable and renewable protein source that requires no additional land or water resources. We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with the people at DSM. Their corporate commitment to sustainability and renewability, as reflected in their philosophy and vision of ‘people, planet and profit,’ are values that we share at NutraCea. We look forward to working with the DSM team.”