Based on its recent analysis of the plant cell culture market, Frost & Sullivan has recognized DianaPlantSciences, Portland, OR, with the 2014 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Visionary Innovation Leadership.
 
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents the Visionary Innovation Leadership award to companies that have demonstrated the understanding to leverage global Mega Trends, as well as to integrate the vision into processes to achieve strategic excellence. The award recognizes the efficacy of the recipient’s innovative process and the impact it has on business and society at large.
 
DianaPlantSciences was honored for its efforts to integrate smart, sustainable technology into agricultural production methods, which has enabled it to address ever-evolving customer needs for smarter plant cell culture technologies. The company’s advancements have allowed clients to move past the conventional agricultural technology of field-grown plants, which is often inefficient, inapplicable to rare plant species, and detrimental to the environment on a commercial scale.
 
In line with the Mega Trend of ‘Smart is the New Green’, DianaPlantSciences said that it provides turnkey solutions to increase customers’ operational efficiency. This is achieved by encouraging the use of high-quality, full-traceability plant secondary metabolites as raw materials, whether contained in their original plant cells or extracted therefrom. Secondary metabolites obtained from plant cell culture technology are non-GMO, free from contaminants, and contain nutritional properties suited to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical applications.
 
DianaPlantSciences’ ability to design and commercialize the plant cell culture technology facilitates the culture of desired plant components in bioreactors, doing away with the need to grow an entire plant. In addition to enhancing operational efficiency and productivity, DianaPlantSciences’ meticulously designed manufacturing process drastically reduces the utilization of natural resources, such as agricultural land and manpower.
 
“Cultured in a controlled environment, plant cells are free from pests and contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides and pollutants, resulting in high-quality yield,” said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Tharmathas Alagappan. “In addition, DianaPlantSciences’ minimal downstream processes, which dispense with the complex process of harvesting, transporting and extracting desired compounds from full grown plants, give a huge boost to energy efficiency.”
 
Overall, this disruptive technology is anticipated to raise the industry benchmark in quality, traceability as well as operational and energy efficiency.
 
Further showcasing its innovation abilities, DianaPlantSciences developed Cocovanol, the first nutraceutical ingredient produced completely in a bioreactor via plant cell culture technology. Cocovanol Cocoa Actives contains significantly higher flavanol content than basic cocoa, and only traces of caffeine and theobromine. This makes Cocovanol a better source of nutrition, and raw material for the nutraceutical and cosmeceutical industry.
 
Importantly, DianaPlantSciences’ heavy R&D investments have allowed it to research rare plant species and thereby, to expand its intellectual portfolio. Its sophisticated plant cell culture technology permits it to explore and leverage an infinite number of plant species, as only a minute specimen sample is required to initiate micropropagation. This enables it to produce novel, proprietary ingredients that are patentable.
 
“The utilization of advanced bio-informatics to screen plant cell lines, synergized with its rare understanding of plant metabolic pathways, assists maximal product differentiation through the production of innovative plant phyto-actives,” noted Alagappan.
 
DianaPlantSciences harnesses its full intellectual capabilities to provide cutting-edge solutions, tailored to meet end-users demands. Frost & Sullivan said that it firmly believes that the company’s plant cell culture solutions are visionary, and offer clients a competitive edge in the highly demanding industry.