Innovative Natural Pigments and Dyes Produced from Yeast and Fungi

To enable a smooth transition from fossil to sustainable products, the paint and coating industry is in desperate need for high performance bio-based solutions especially for bio-polymers and lipids, binders, fillers, pigments and additives like functional nanomaterials. The EU funded research project PERFECOAT therefore successfully developed innovative bio-based solutions, from bio-waste and agricultural residues. In the first two years of examination the team developed and validated a new generation of industrial wood and decorative coatings with more than 25% bio-based components. These will be tested in the formulation of three use-cases: UV-curable clear coatings for wood, waterborne trim paints for DIY, and waterborne wall paints.

Besides microbially produced alginates and lipids, the PERFECOAT project set the goal to develop and produce at least two different formulations for bio-based red pigments and dyes as well as other colours. Here, Danish project partner Chromologics Aps proved to be ahead of the game and developed and patented innovative new pigments. Water-soluble dye is produced by combining atrorosin using maltodextrin as a binder, while pigments are produced by complexation with aluminium supplemented with magnesium. Initial results look promising in terms of yield, colour and performance, with impressive results for the aluminium variant for paints and coatings. The team further identified great potential for the production of red and orange pigments from the fungus Talaromyces atroroseus. Alternative strategies for carotenoids used the yeasts R. toruloides and Y. lipolytica, which also allow the extraction of the violet pigment violacein. Violacein is a naturally occurring anticancer therapeutic compound with a deep purple colour. The intermediates of the violacein biosynthetic pathway also show other colours such as green from prodeoxyviolacein or pink from deoxyviolacein.

The PERFECOAT consortium will present these and other findings on 24 April 2024 at its upcoming stakeholder event in Brussels, Belgium. Registration is available at https://events.renewable-carbon.eu/event/bio-based-innovations-for-industrial-applications/

This month the consortium released a project video.

An extended version can be watched at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AjCJyqFMLI&t=58s.

More information about PERFECOAT is available at https://perfecoat-project.eu

The PERFECOAT project receives funding from the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101022370. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the Bio-based Industries Consortium.