Atlantic BioVenture Centre holds Open House for Microfactory Project

The Atlantic BioVenture Centre (ABVC) and Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) held an Open House on Friday, June 6 at AgriTech Park. Invited guests were given a glimpse of the Portable Modular Microfactory project, a prototype to be used for the extraction of high value bioactives and nutraceuticals from agricultural crops, specifically blueberries, cranberries and rosehips.

The Portable Modular Microfactory

Bioactive compounds are naturally occurring chemicals in plant or animals that provide a health benefit, such as omega-3 fatty acids in fish or flax oils. Nutraceuticals are food extracts generally sold in tablet, capsule or liquid concentrate form.

Nova Scotia Agriculture Minister, The Honourable Brooke Taylor, brought greetings from the province. “NSAC and the ABVC have done a great job of bringing together the necessary sectors to carry out the research work,” said Minister Taylor. “The microfactory technology has great potential for Nova Scotia’s agriculture sector,” continued Minister Taylor.

The microfactory features value addition processing infrastructure and is designed for on-farm use to be next to the agri-production supply and labour pool. The design also allows for flexibility to accommodate a range of other specialty products. This benefits small producer groups involved in community-level processing activities seeking direct access to global markets.

(left-right) Dr. Richard Ablett (ABVC), Hon. Brooke Taylor, Shawn Ingraham (AAFC), Darlene Stevenson (ACOA), Deputy Minister of Agriculture Paul Lafleche and Dr. Bernie MacDonald

Dr. Bernie MacDonald, Co-President and Vice President Academic, NSAC said “I am extremely proud of the collaboration and forward-thinking vision that this project represents. Projects like the microfactory speak to a strong future for the Maritime region’s agricultural industry.”

The portable modular microfactory took five months to build and was constructed in Charlottetown PEI primarily using expertise and components from the Maritime Provinces. The total project cost was close to 1.6 Million dollars.

Funding for the Portable Modular Microfactory was provided through the Science and Innovation Chapter of the federal-provincial-territorial Agricultural Policy Framework. Government partners include Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Government of Nova Scotia and Government of Prince Edward Island.

(left-right) Dr. Bernie MacDonald, Case Van Dyk, Hon. Brooke Taylor, and Riek Van Dyk.

Industry support was provided through Atlantic Systems manufacturing, Terra Beata Farms Ltd., Van Dyk’s Health Juice Products Ltd., VanEwyk Farms, ZEP Sales and Service.