Myconeos
Established in 2018, Myconeos Ltd is a start-up company founded on fungal microbiological research from the University of Nottingham. Using ground-breaking techniques, the company is focused on developing new strains of Penicillium Roqueforti with novel characteristics for mould-ripened cheese production. Four initial candidate strains (currently in the advance stages of final production) have already been developed for targeted use in the dairy industry. In addition, the company have a formidable expertise and ability to develop future novel strains for the wider food manufacturing base.
This project has been immensely helpful for Myconeos as a small start-up business. The research Alice Jones put in was incredibly thorough and well thought out, enabling us to hit the ground running with the physical cheesemaking process. This research will likely save hundreds of hours, as well as labour/material costs, by enabling Myconeos to screen our large library of newly bred strains in a fast and efficient way that minimises waste. The facilities we were able to access at Sutton Bonington were great and gave us an idea of how we can replicate the cheesemaking at our own facility.
Project brief
- Identifying a suitable small-scale cheese trial facility, allowing final candidate strain testing in the targeted end product.
- Supporting the identification of potentially suited commercial mould-ripened cheese collaborators.
- Advise on technical accreditation support services.
- Advise on social media marketing support agencies.
The response
- A number of small-scale cheese trial companies were researched and refined based on location, services and facilities offered. A short-list was submitted to Myconeos for consideration, along with liaising support if required.
- A series of cheese manufacturers at a local and national level were researched. Consideration was based on mould-ripened cheese production, innovative company nature and industry citing. A short-list was submitted to Myconeos in addition to further liaising support if required.
- Advice and relevant contacts regarding technical accreditation training and insight were given to the company, along with further follow-up support if required.
- Recommended local social media support agencies and contacts were provided to the company, along with further follow-up support if required.
Benefit to the business
This project has supported the company to progress with end product trials in a suitable manufacturing environment, along with well-founded suggestions for potential on-going blue cheese manufacturing collaborations. Furthermore, specific contacts, allowing Myconeos to access invaluable insight to the wider dairy industry were recommended. Finally, the project assisted in enabling Myconeos to access well-suited technical training support and social media marketing guidance.
Project brief
- Design, test and refine a miniature (benchscale) cheesemaking process, suggesting a recipe, processing equipment, conditions and production steps required.
- Teach the process to company representatives to allow them to implement the process in their own food grade facility.
The response
- A literature search was carried out on the key formulation, processing steps and conditions required to make semi-hard blue cheeses. This review was documented in a report.
- A practical cheesemaking formulation and process at small scale was suggested, taking in to account the need to create a cheese of a certain specification and quality and in a safe manner, which would allow samples to be tasted.
- A search was made for small-scale cheesemaking equipment, appropriate suppliers of equipment and ingredients suggested (with implementation at the company kept in mind).
- A collaborative day was run at the University’s Food Processing Facility, to make some cheese batches at a small scale, with The Food Innovation Centre advising on the practical side of cheesemaking. Simultaneously, the company were able to instruct on the best ways of applying their fungal strains/ factors that would make the process useful to them when implementing at their own facility.
- A number of miniature cheese roundels were created and are being monitored during storage and maturation steps, with regular reports back to the company.
Benefit to the business
The company learnt the typical process steps and conditions required to produce a semi-hard blue cheese and now have a practical written protocol for small scale cheesemaking, along with details of equipment and suppliers that can be used, allowing them to implement this knowledge into their own production facility. A representative of the company has been shown how to carry out the process in practice and they will be able to draw conclusions about the suitability of such a process for them going forward by assessing the resulting cheeses that emerge from the maturation process. By testing their strains in development at a small scale, in-house, rather than having to commission larger scale cheesemaking production batches at third party production sites, should allow Myconeos to save save money and cut waste.
Project brief
- Find ways to accelerate the bench-scale mini cheese making process, so that it can be completed within a day or less, to allow rapid production of the mini cheeses.
- Optimise a number of key processing steps such as: strain addition point and curd set time before cutting curds.
- Determine the smallest cheese size that can be produced to still allow blue veins to form and be sampled.
- Supervise a Master’s student, carrying out a placement project, to work in the Food Processing Facility on the points above, with a view to finalising the best mini cheese making process, and then transferring the knowledge to the company’s own production site.
The response
Alice worked with Food Production Management Master’s student, Uzoamaka, who was carrying out a summer placement project with Myconeos Ltd, on the above points. Alice offered her access to the Food Processing Facility, and provided guidance on and practical techniques related to the experiments she needed to run, to study and optimise the process. Through this collaborative working approach, a mini cheese making process that was implementable at the company was created by Uzoamaka, with the mini cheeses being made in a rapid one-day process. After maturation time, she was able to report to the company the minimum cheese size required to grow up full blue veins for observation and analysis.
Benefit to the business
Through this project, which was made possible by funding from UKSPF, the company were able to gain an optimised and rapid process for making mini cheeses to test their new fungal strains in. By working in a collaborative way with the Food Innovation centre and a Master’s Student, they were able to access maximum time in the University’s Food Processing Facility for this optimisation work to take place whilst also having the student work other days in their facility to bring back the knowledge for embedding at their site.
Benefit to the student
Uzoamaka was able to access one-to-one support from a Food Technologist, with extensive previous experience of working in industry, in order to deliver the best possible results for the company, whilst developing her practical and research skills and submitting a scientific report and poster to contribute to her Master’s degree qualification. Working in this way, with a company partner and The Food Innovation Centre, means she has developed good skills for the workplace, as well as on the academic side.
My experience working on this collaborative cheese-making project with both, the University of Nottingham's Food Innovation Centre, and Myconeos Limited, in the industry's laboratory and the University's Food Processing Facility, has been invaluable. Through my internship, I was able to apply theoretical knowledge in a real-world context, exploring ways to accelerate the mini cheese production process. With the support of Alice and Myconeos, I optimized key processing steps in a bid to achieve rapid cheese-making, such as curd setting time and strain addition, and identified the smallest cheese size suitable for the development of blue veins.