REVIEW ARTICLE
Hydrogen Oxidizing Bacteria as Novel Protein Source for Human Consumption: An Overview
Suzanne C. Angenent1, #, Josje H. Schuttinga2, #, Merel F. H. van Efferen3, #, Boaz Kuizenga4, #, Bart van Bree5, #, Robin O. van der Krieken5, *, Tim J. Verhoeven6, #, Rene H. Wijffels7
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187428582207270
Publisher ID: e187428582207270
DOI: 10.2174/18742858-v16-e2207270
Article History:
Received Date: 8/3/2022Revision Received Date: 18/4/2022
Acceptance Date: 24/5/2022
Electronic publication date: 08/11/2022
Collection year: 2022

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The increasing threat of climate change combined with the prospected growth in the world population puts an enormous pressure on the future demand for sustainable protein sources for human consumption. In this review, hydrogen oxidizing bacteria (HOB) are presented as a novel protein source that could play a role in fulfilling this future demand. HOB are species of bacteria that merely require an inflow of the gasses hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and a nitrogen source to grow in a conventional bioreactor. Cupriavidus necator is proposed as HOB for industrial cultivation due to its remarkably high protein content (up to 70% of mass), suitability for cultivation in a bioreactor, and the vast amount of available background information. A broad overview of the unique aspects of the bacteria will be provided, from the production process, amino acid composition, and source of the required gasses to the future acceptance of HOB into the market.