Veganes Vitamin D3

Nachhaltig erzeugtes veganes Vitamin D3 und Cholesterol aus Nierembergia repens

Sustainably produced vegan vitamin D3 and cholesterol from Nierembergia repens

The aim of the DiPlanD project is to pool regional expertise in the fields of plant breeding, bioprocess engineering, digital measurement and control technology and active ingredient analysis and to establish Nierembergia (N.) repens as a new agricultural plant in the model region of southern Saxony-Anhalt in order to use it as a source of plant-based vitamin D3 and cholesterol for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
The sterols from particularly promising N. repens accessions and cultivars are to be converted into biologically active vegan vitamin D3 and other potentially marketable sterol-based active ingredients using bioprocess engineering and digitally controlled technology.
The task of the GMBU in this joint project will be the development and application of a digitally controlled UV-B LED reactor for the conversion of the starting material 7-dehydrocholesterol extracted from the plant into vitamin D3. Innovative digital control concepts based on sensory real-time monitoring of the conversion in the reactor are to be implemented in the project. During development, various fluidic and optical reactor principles will be used, such as immersion emitter or falling film reactors, which allow a good input of high-energy radiation and also a controlled thermal influence on the conversion reaction.

DIP-Project „DiPlanD“, joint project

Project partner:

• MLU Halle-Wittenberg
• Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie (IPB) Halle
• Julius-Kühn-Institut (JKI) Quedlinburg
• Fraunhofer-Zentrum für Internationales Management und Wissensökonomie (IMW) Halle
• Duration: 1st phase, 01.04.2024 – 30.06.2027
• Funding body: PTJ (Project Management Jülich) on behalf of the BMBF