Standing on the shoulders of Louis Pasteur
Featuring… Resorcix
The Problem
Drink spoilage is an age old problem. Since beverages like juice and milk were introduced to the human diet, there always seems to be a few beverages in every batch that go bad, causing serious health issues. 150 years ago, Louis Pasteur sought out to solve this problem. He invented pasteurization, the first type of developed Food Technology to prevent drink spoilage. His method prevented the development of spoiled organisms and eliminated vegetative bacteria. However, it did not eliminate bacterial spores nor did it extend a beverage’s shelf-life to the extent necessary to prevent consumers from getting sick. Pasteur’s invention was a remarkable step in the right direction, but beverage consumers continue to suffer from drink spoilage due to one component that pasteurization cannot handle: spores, a stage some bacteria reach in order to survive..
Spoiled beverages are a nuisance, and they result in destructive financial losses and food-borne illnesses. The problem is that the pasteurization process does not kill the dormant bacteria, Alicyclobacillus, therefore, it doesn’t completely solve the problem of the bacteria in beverages like juice and milk. Not only does pasteurization not kill this specific type of bacteria, but Mr. Pasteur’s process revives the organisms.
Determined to solve this major health issue and improve beverage company’s constant economic loss, Resorcix developed a product of plant origin with strong spore-killing abilities. Resorcix’s technology prevents food spoilage by killing spores, ensuring quality a product’s quality during its shelf-life and saving money for both companies and customers.
Resorcix’s History
Resorcix was started by Dr. Yehoshua Maor, soon after he finished his activities as the coordinator of the Hebrew University’s Center of Excellence in Agriculture and Environmental Health. Dr. Maor is originally from Brazil, and completed his graduate studies at the Hebrew University in Pharmaceutical Sciences. He was a Research Fellow at the Harvard School of Medicine, and then moved back to Jerusalem with his wife and family. He started a company, called Phytor, that began as a nutritional supplement developer. While Maor’s company evolved, he collected several plants from around the globe. Among those plants he identified a plant. With this plant, he isolated the plant’s active molecules and produced synthetic analogs that would help future treatment for pancreatic cancer. While experimenting with other resources in the Phytor Lab, Dr. Lior Sinai, the team’s microbiology expert, discovered that a fraction of another plant extract was able to kill spores. Thrilled by this discovery, Dr. Sinai and Dr. Maor took what they knew about this newly discovered plant, they got creative, and applied it to Food Technology.
Resorcix’s Solution
Fast forward 150 years, Dr. Maor entered into the food-tech industry using his background in chemistry and biology of cannabinoids. He also strongly encouraged and continues to encourage his team members working in the lab to innovate and think of their own ideas. One of Maor’s team members, Dr. Lior Sinai, who received his Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics, specializing in spores made a connection when Dr. Maor brought in native, Brazilian, plant extract. Dr. Sinai went straight to looking at the plant’s different fractions effect on spores. He identified this plant’s ability to kill spores, the very problem that milk and juice companies have been trying to solve for over 150 years.
This plant extract that Resorcix uses is native to the Brazilian Amazon, and is known for its flavor enhancing and anti-inflammatory properties among others, and it is already FDA approved. The Resorcix team developed a food grade method to fractionate the plant extract, isolate and identify the combination of substances that in the right proportion are responsible for spore killing. This fraction is several times more potent than the natural plant extract. For the food and beverage industry, this was, and is a massive breakthrough.
The Future
Resorcix is in the process of getting their fraction separated by a food grade solvent approved by the FDA and EFSA. Once they are past these regulatory obstacles, companies from the United States and Europe can begin to implement Resorcix’s technology, and promote a worry-free life for consumers and producers when it comes to juice consumption.
Resorcix currently has a pilot program with an Israeli juice company. According to Dr. Maor, the pilot has been incredibly successful, and he looks forward to sharing Resorcix’s technology with all beverage companies that care about the health of their customers.
Resorcix is on the cutting edge of food technology, and is one of many Jerusalem Food Tech startups. Dr. Maor received grants from the Jerusalem Development Authority. Dr. Maor spoke about how great of an opportunity it is to be working in the Jerusalem BioPark, a biotech industry park run by the Minrav Group. While he raved about the amazing location, he admitted it is difficult to pay employees enough money to live in Jerusalem, due to the high cost of living. Thus, he is grateful for the BioJerusalem grants that give him 100,000 NIS for each Jerusalem resident employee during the first two and a half years of work.
Dr. Maor explained the first couple of years of running his startup to be like the take-off of an airplane. At first, the journey was rough and bumpy, but once his startup reached 2000 feet, Resorcix has been smooth sailing and increasing in elevation ever since.
