ABSTRACT

For most industrial companies to become interested in a new technology, the answer to whether the technology has the potential to improve their businessmust be positive. The next question that needs to be answered is how the new technology would improve their business. Obviously, if the processing became cheaper and resulted in the same product, that would raise industrial interest. This might be possible if subsequent processes were made more efficient or faster, as in the case of dehydration of food. The same would apply if the new process reduced the loss of valuable materials; or in the case of harvesting ingredients from plant cells, if the yield increased; or in the preservation of foods, if the new process increased shelf life. Often, however, new technologies are not cheaper and although they may use the same raw materials and ingredients, they are unlikely to produce exactly the same product.