'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.

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.

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.