'A huge value addition': Sask. scientists develop way to make canola meal more profitable

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are looking at making the canola crop more profitable.

After canola gets combined, the seed gets crushed, and the oil is extracted. The leftovers, the canola meal, get sold into the animal feed market.

Bishnu Archarya, an associate professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering, has developed an 'enzymatic process' to extract protein from the canola meal.

Archarya and his team have created a product called CanXtract — a yellow-brown powder, Archarya believes is an alternative to soy and yeast extract.

The canola meal extract is used as a nutrient for microbial fermentation — to create things like ethanol, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

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Archarya says canola meal is sold around 40 cents a kilogram. He estimates his extracted canola meal product can be sold for about $100 a kilogram.

"It's a huge value addition," Archarya, who is also Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture bioprocess engineering chair, tells CTV News.

The potential value-add to canola meal could flow back to farmers.

"Farmers are the initial point of that value chain, so definitely the benefits will go back to them," Archarya says.

Archarya and Nirpesh Dhakal, a PHD student and the chief technology officer of CanXtract, are looking to work with stakeholders to take the product to market.

"All the effort we have put, together, into this project for the last two years, seeing that growth, coming up with a product that works, is very exciting," Archarya says.

Archarya's work was recognized by Mitacs — an organization that connects businesses and researchers with the tools they need to turn ideas into innovations.

Archarya accepted the Mitacs Innovation Award in Ottawa on Nov. 19.