Granted Patent B2

US 12,584,150 · App. 18/634,304 · Granted Mar 24, 2026

Inventors: Andrew J. Manning (Sioux Falls, SD); Alex T. McCurdy (Sioux Falls, SD); Steven T. Bly (Sioux Falls, SD)

Assignee: POET Research, Inc.

C12P7/14

Abstract

Claims (26)

1 . A method of producing distillers corn oil (DCO), the method comprising:

(a) inoculating a feedstock:

(i) with a combination of a first microorganism which is an ethanologen and a second microorganism genetically engineered to produce esterase; or

(ii) with an ethanologen, wherein the ethanologen is a yeast genetically modified to produce esterase;

and

(b) fermenting the feedstock in the presence of produced esterase to produce ethanol and DCO,

wherein the esterase is present in an amount sufficient to reduce (i) free fatty acid (FFA) content and (ii) metal ion content or phosphorus content, in DCO,

wherein the DCO comprises decreased FFA content relative to the FFA content of a DCO produced in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or genetically modified yeast; and

wherein the metal ion content or phosphorus content is reduced by at least about 10% relative to fermentation in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or genetically modified yeast.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of (a)(i) includes inoculating a feedstock in a propagation tank or a fermentation tank with the ethanologen and the second microorganism.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the DCO exhibits decreased levels of cationic metals (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, etc.) or phosphorus relative to the levels of cationic metals or phosphorus present in DCO produced in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the DCO exhibits decreased soap content relative to the soap content in DCO produced in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the DCO exhibits decreased viscosity relative to the viscosity of a DCO produced in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the DCO comprises increased FAEE relative to the FAEE content of a DCO produced in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase produced is present in the fermentation in an amount equivalent to about 0.01 to about 1.00 LU/g dry solids (DS); about 0.0001% to about 0.0300% w/w DS; about 0.02% to about 0.5% w/w corn oil; or about 1 L to about 100 L in a 550,000 gal fermentation vat.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase produced is present in an amount sufficient to reduce metal ion content or phosphorus content in DCO by at least about 20% relative to a fermentation in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase produced is present in an amount sufficient to reduce metal ion content or phosphorus content in DCO by at least about 50% relative to a fermentation in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase produced is present in the fermentation in an amount sufficient to reduce FFA content in DCO to less than about 15% w/w relative to a fermentation in the absence of an esterase-producing microorganism or yeast.

11 . The method of claim 1 (a)(i), wherein the ethanologen is S. cerevisiae and the second microorganism is a genetically modified yeast engineered to produce esterase.

12 . The method of claim 1 (a)(i), wherein the ethanologen is S. cerevisiae and the second microorganism is a bacteria engineered to produce esterase.

13 . The method of claim 1 (a)(ii), wherein the yeast is S. cerevisiae and the esterase produced by the yeast is present in the fermentation in an amount equivalent to about 0.03 to about 0.70 LU/g dry solids (DS).

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase is a carboxylic-ester hydrolase.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase is a carboxylic esterase.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the esterase is a lipase.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the lipase is a CALB lipase.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the lipase is a triacylglycerol lipase.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (213)