Natural enzymes for ecological detergents to improve biologically certified washing products
The project NEEDbioWash aims to develop and demonstrate the production of an organic, GMO-free enzyme product by solid state fermentation (SSF) which can boost the washing performance of eco-certified laundry products significantly. It is well-known that enzymes can considerably increase the washing performance as they can degrade stains, which are not removed by surfactants. However, conventional enzymes are not allowed in eco-certified laundry detergents due to the use of GMOs during the production process. The innovative idea of NEEDbioWash consists in using the solid state fermentation technique to avoid the need of genetical modification to enhance productivity.  
The market of organic food and non-food merchandise is growing rapidly, both in the European and the global market growth rates of up to 20% are to observe. This is due the raising awareness of the customers to more healthy products, more responsible use of resources, better working conditions, fair traded goods and animal welfare. In organic-labelled products ingredients produced from or by GMO are strictly forbidden, as the influence of GMO on the human health and the environment are not yet satisfyingly investigated. Organic products aim to be produced as natural as possible, including the used raw materials. We are convinced that it is time to provide conscious customers also an environment-friendly laundry detergent product which is entirely natural and has still outstanding washing performance, as people nowadays have – also in the organic community – no time to care about dirty laundry. This is as well the outcome of SME instrument phase 1 project SSFENZYMES (GA: 740224) finished in May 2017 where a huge market potential for NEEDbioWash within Europe as well as world-wide was confirmed.