FLEXIZYME - A Sustainable Biotechnological Platform for Fatty Amine Production

The biotechnological industry, a key sector for European competitiveness, faces challenges in scaling up processes and transitioning towards sustainability and alternatives to fossil-based raw materials. Specifically, the production of Fatty Amines (FAs)—essential for various industries such as cosmetics, coatings, detergents, and agriculture—still relies on the "nitrile route," which often uses non-renewable sources and has several limitations. The FLEXIZYME project aims to address this dependency by developing a biotechnological platform that converts industrial side streams, such as fat- and protein-rich residues, into bio-based fatty amines through enzymatic engineering and biocatalysis. The new platform will consider principles of bio-circularity, by identifying effective routes for the industrial valorization of by-products.