INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY- VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY FIELD TRIP REPORT IN AJINOMOTO VIETNAM LIMITED COMPANY Name: Tran Quang Minh ID: BTBCIU16002 Advisor: Msc. Bui Ngoc Yen Tram Page 1 1. Overall information: Ajinomoto Co., Inc. , (Ajinomoto Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverage, sweeteners, amino acids, and pharmaceuticals. AJI-NO-MOTO, "essence of taste" is the trade name for the company's original monosodium glutamate (MSG) product.[2] The corporation's head office is located in Tokyo. As of 2019, Ajinomoto operates in 35 countries and employs an estimated 34,452 people. Its yearly revenue in 2018 is around US$10.2 billion. They always try to maintain the best quality of manufacturing as the production in Japan by strictly applies international standards of quality management which include: - Quality management: ISO 9001:2015 - Food Security: FOOD DEFENSE - Food safety management: HACCP:2003 - Health and Safety management: OHSAS 18001:2007 - Environmental management: ISO 14001:2004 - Energy management: ISO 50001:2011 2. Manufacturing Ajinomoto developed a variety of products but this report only focuses on the main product which is Ajinomoto. In Asia and Latin America, the product is primarily sold to consumers, while in North America and Europe it is mostly sold to processed food manufacturers. Ajinomoto is an umami seasoning which is originated from a chemical called MSG (monosodium Glutamate). Actually, Glutamate is a common acid amine found in fish, meat or even mushrooms. Therefore, theoretically Ajinomoto seasoning does no harm to our health. In manufacturing of Ajinomoto, Glutamate is made from fermented molasses and tapioca starch. The bacteria used for fermentation is Brevibacterium 2256, an aerobe species. After researching and development, the corporation is able to enhance the ability of this species and manufacture 11 types of acid amine to serve for many other field such as cosmetic, pharmaceutic or even electrical engineering. The flow chart below is the process of making Ajinomoto. Page 2 This is a monoculture process involved with submerged batch fermentation method. The first step of the process involved preparation of two materials which are Cane molasse and Tapioca Starch. Cane molasse is treated with H2SO4 for Calcium elimination and hydrolysis to 2 monosaccharides. The reactions are: Ca2+ + SO42- CaSO4 Saccarose + H+ Glucose + Fructose Page 3 After that, the centrifuge machine is used to separate the gypsum (CaSO 4) and saccharides solution. On the other hand, the wet tapioca starch is passed through two step: Gelatinization and Saccharification. In gelatinization, the solution is heated to 980C with the presence of enzyme to cut down the starch into smaller saccharides (dextrin) for 30 minutes before treated with amylase at 60oC for hours to cut down the dextin into monosaccharides (glucose) which is the most suitable nutrient for the bacteria. In the end, the sugar solution extracted from molasse and tapioca starch is transferred into the fermentation tank. In this tank, Brevibacterium 2256 is added toghether with addition vitamins and minerals which aid the bacteria proliferation. During the fermentation, no air or oxygen is allowed to be present in the tank except for the initial limited amount of oxygen aiding the proliferation of the culture because the bacteria is an anaerobe. As soon as the fermenting step is done, Glutamic acid is isolated out of the liquid for further modification leaving the bacteria cell liquid behind. The bacteria cell liquid will be modified into biofertilizer to supply back to argiculture and the product of these farms ( cassava,cane) will be used in the process again. This is called the bio-cycle which is eco-friendly and minimize the manufacture waste. Beside that, the isolated glutamic acid is neutralized by soda but only to monosodium glutamate due to a secret technique. Then, it is decolorization by activated carbon to become non-color Umami seasoning broth followed by the crystalliztion step at which the broth is concentrated by heat and transferred to crystallization system to create seasoning crystals. As soon as it is crystallized, the glutamate crystals are dried by hot air and sieved to classified sizes. At the end, the final product is weighed and packed into different packages. The final product will be passed through some quality test before distributing into the market but the particular tests was not mentioned clearly in the field trip. If I have a chance to work at Ajinomoto Vietnam, I would love to work for the technologist position in which I will adjust the process, parameter to maintain or develop produce quality. As the quality of the input materials may vary, the modification of technologists is quite crucial to give out the quality product Page 4 N n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n j k kk k l mmj pujn oj klj i Page 5
