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Zein was first discovered by J. Gorham in 1821, but did not appear in the marketplace
until the 1930's. It was used extensively in coatings for paper cups, candies, nuts, and
fruits. Zein became extremely popular in the 1940's and 1950's with demand peaking in the
late 1950's. Today Zein is known as a specialty product, and is growing in demand due to
technical advances in corn based biorefineries and consumer demand for biobased products.
Zein is a prolamine protein found in corn that has a number of unique characteristics and functionalities. It is soluble in alcohols and other solvents, but only slightly soluble in water. INVIZTM has a yellow color and a slight toasted corn odor. INVIZTM zein is extracted from POET's Dakota Gold® HPTM distillers grains with aqueous ethanol. Dakota Gold® HPTM is a feed co-product of the POET BFracTM dry mill ethanol process.
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Typical product composition:
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Min/max specifications:
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| Protein |
89% |
| Fat |
1% |
| Moisture |
6% |
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| Protein |
Min 87% |
| Fat |
Max 2% |
| Moisture |
Max 8% |
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Renewable
Film forming
Grease resistant
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Water vapor barrier
Oxygen barrier
Non-stick
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Microbial resistance
Biodegradable
Non-allergenic
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Zein is extracted from the ethanol co-products corn gluten meal and distiller's grains, making zein a natural product. Historically zein has been utilized in several different areas including the food and pharmaceutical industries. Zein also has numerous applications in other areas as shown below.
Industrial:
- Biodegradable plastic (soda bottles, plastic bags, etc)
- Films
- Packaging
- Paper films
- Adhesives
- Binder for printing inks
Agriculture:
- Biodegradable hay bale wrappers
- Agricultural mulch film
Textile:
Cosmetics
Biomedical:
- Scaffolding for growing or shaping bone or tissues
- Resistance to bacterial growth
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