Green Chemistry and the Design of Co-Formulants for Performing and Sustainable Crop Care Products: Minagro's Sovinol P Range of In-Can Preservatives to Support the Industry Transition

In today's agricultural sphere, sustainability is paramount. However, this transition towards more sustainable practices must not come at the expense of performance. As the ecological shift underlines the pivotal role of agriculture, our sector is tasked with not only bolstering a sustainable food system but also accommodating the demand of all net-zero carbon initiatives, which heavily rely on biomass to facilitate the supply of biobased products. 

Addressing Industry Challenges with Sustainable Innovations

Traditional formulations often rely on chemicals that pose risks to ecosystems and may harm beneficial organisms, necessitating a reevaluation of practices within the agrochemical industry.  With increasing regulatory pressures and evolving consumer preferences favoring eco-friendly options, the demand for innovative solutions has never been more urgent.  This challenge extends beyond just active ingredients, encompassing co-formulants as well, exemplified by a new regulation enacted on March 23, which bans the  use of unacceptable co-formulants (EU2023/574).

These co-formulants are integral ingredients of crop care products ensuring his performance, stability and shelf life. Moreover, the selection of co-formulants significantly influences final product properties such as toxicity, biodegradability, residues level, and eligibility for organic certification.  It's evident that choosing the right co-formulants is crucial to maximize the positive impact of crop care products.  

Minagro's Green Approach: Pioneering Sustainable Solutions

Leading this charge since 2019 is Minagro, a Belgium-based startup, dedicated to developing greener ingredients for the agrochemical industry to support a smooth transition away from hazardous co-formulants. Minagro's greener alternatives are designed with a focus on three key criteria:

• Firstly, the production processes prioritize safety and employ green chemistry principles, thereby enhancing the renewable carbon index. 

• Secondly, the ingredient profile is crafted to ensure optimal performance while assessing safer tox-ecotox properties and avoiding classification of the final formulation. 
  

• Lastly, Minagro's ingredients are specifically designed to meet the rigorous standards of organic farming, where inert ingredients play a crucial role in amplifying the performance of the organic formulations.

This approach aligns with the IUPAC definition of green chemistry, which considers the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances to humans, animals, plants, and the environment.

Revolutionizing In-Can Preservatives

Minagro's initial focus has been on the development of greener in-can preservatives. These co-formulants are crucial components of water-based formulations, playing a vital role in preventing degradation caused by microbial and fungal contamination. Currently, such products are mainly derived      from the isothiazolinone chemistry and this raises concerns regarding the production process that is linked to the hazardous chloronitrobenzene chemistry. Additionally, these ingredients are classified at standard use rates, and are not permitted in all organic standards, such as ECOCERT fertilizers and OMRI products.

Moreover, this development has the potential to significantly improve the sustainability of the entire supply chain, starting from:

• Co-formulant production with biobased ingredients that are not linked to hazardous chemicals such as chloronitrobenzene.

• Logistics and transport of the co-formulant to agrochemical factories that will not require any special constraints.

• Safer handling and processing within the agrochemical factory environment.

• Safer products for the farmers without hazardous mention and allowed in organic farming (as the traditional preservatives are affecting the classification of the final crop care product).

Meeting Market Demands: Tailored Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture

To develop a greener alternative, it was imperative to ensure comparable performance using molecules that offer a more environmentally friendly profile. To validate this performance, Minagro drew inspiration from the ISO 11930 protocol, originally developed by the cosmetic industry. This protocol involves inoculating formulations with three bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) and two fungi (Candida albicans and Aspergillus brasiliensis), with colony forming units evaluated after 7, 14, and 28 days. For agricultural applications, Minagro could confirm that the stringent criteria of the ISO 11930 protocol was aligned with the industry shelf life requirements. Additionally, the developed blends needed to be easily scalable, considering formulation compatibility and without introducing new constraints into the industrial process or for farmers. Furthermore, the objective was to offer blends with added value in both conventional and organic farming, necessitating compliance with various certification rules such as OMRI, ECOCERT, and FiBL.

To summarize the development and market strategy, Minagro began with a traditional and innovative solutions that are widely recognized in the industry. To enhance its profile, the focus could not be only limited to improving the chemical process for production of the same molecule but using a more sustainable approach, such as a biobased process or natural extracts. Indeed, increasing regulatory constraints prioritizes scalable alternatives that can enhance the profile of the final formulation.

A Vision for the Future: Scaling Sustainable Solutions

In response, Minagro has developed five proprietary blends tailored to meet various market demands in both conventional and organic farming:

• Sovinol P850 and Sovinol P540, which are petrochemical-based products, offer effective in-can preservation while maintaining a safer profile.

• To enhance the renewable carbon index of the final formulations, Sovinol P850/N and Sovinol P540/N serve as biobased alternatives to Sovinol P850 and Sovinol P540. Apart from the production process, these products have identical compositions and CAS numbers, facilitating a future transition to fossil-free agrochemicals without the need to revise pesticide product registrations.

• Finally, Sovinol P740/O is a natural extract that meets the stringent criteria of various organic certification bodies in the EU and US, including ECOCERT, FiBL, and OMRI.

Paving the Way for Sustainable Agriculture

Minagro's strategy is to develop a range of greener co-formulants for agricultural formulations, focusing on projects involving in-can preservatives and adjuvants, which are already or ready for market and have already been validated by key agrochemical companies. Additionally, the company is working on projects involving biobased solvents to stabilize plant extracts and active ingredients. 

As a conclusion, the Sovinol P range of in-can preservatives illustrate how the design of greener co-formulants offers pragmatic solutions to support the transition within the agrochemical industry. Moreover, it also aids our farming sector in producing quality food while better respecting the environment, and in generating sufficient biomass for the development of the bioeconomy.  

This article will be published in AgroPages' upcoming '2024 Formulation&Adjuvant Technology' magazine.

If you'd  like to participate in it to show your insights and solutions or for any promotion demands, please contact Grace Yuan: grace@agropages.com