Valine is one of the 20 amino acids that make up protein. It belongs to the branched chain amino acid and is an essential 8 amino acids and sugar amino acids for the human body. Humans and animals cannot synthesize it themselves and must consume it from the diet to meet their nutritional needs.
Valine promotes protein synthesis, inhibits protein decomposition, and enhances the body's immune protection. It is widely used in feed, medicine, and food. In feed, valine, as one of the essential amino acids for animals, can improve the production performance of broilers, milk production of lactating sows, and weight gain of piglets. In medicine, valine is an important intermediate for the synthesis of an immune antibiotic. It is an essential limiting amino acid for the human body (an amino acid that plays an important role in protein nutritional value due to its low content). It is one of the components of compound amino acid infusion. In food, it can be used as a food additive, nutritional supplement, and flavor agent.
Valine is an optically active compound, divided into L-type and D-type. Among them, L-valine is an essential amino acid and glycogenic amino acid in mammals, which is more easily absorbed by the intestinal wall in animals, and the physiological effect is twice that of D-type.
The main production methods of L-valine include protein hydrolysis extraction, chemical synthesis, enzymatic method, and biological fermentation method. The first three methods have the disadvantages of high production cost and difficulty in separation. The biological fermentation method has the advantages of low raw material cost, high fermentation yield, and easy large-scale production. It is currently the method used by most L-valine producers in the world.
Feed grade valine demand growth is the most significant. According to the China Fermentation Industry Association, the global L-valine market has grown rapidly in recent years, with a compound growth rate of 65% from 2016 to 2019. It is expected that the global market will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 24% from 2020 to 2023.
The main producers of L-valine in the domestic market are Xijie (Shenyang) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Meihua Biotechnology Group Joint Stock Company and Fufeng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Among them, Xijie has the highest production capacity, and its production of valine has been widely used and recognized in the market. At present, hundreds of large and medium-sized enterprises have been developed in China to add their valine products to the formula, and their products are also exported overseas. Xijie's existing nominal production capacity of L-valine is 50,000 tons/year, far exceeding the nominal production capacity of Yipin Bio 20,000 tons/year.
