Stellenbosch-based probiotic product developer and manufacturer Probio launched a new biodegradable cleaning product – Deep Impact – last month.

Deep Impact is a restroom and floor cleaner that can be used in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, shopping centres, offices, warehouses and factories to remove not only grease, grime and dirt but also bad odours.

The product is unique to the South African industrial cleaning market, owing to the probio-tics produced by using Probio’s proprietary consortia technology.

Probio director Alastair Burns tells Engi-neering News that Probio microbial strains, or beneficial microorganisms, are grown in a co-growth environment called a consortia, which enables each strain to interact with other strains throughout their development. “This proprietary method is similar to how microbes develop in nature, compared with the more common practice of growing singular strains in a pure-culture format and then blending different strains at the time of packaging.”

He explains that the microbes in Deep Impact are not genetic- ally modified and outcompete harmful bacteria.

“The microbes simply return to their natural state after use,” says Burns, adding that microbes are also used to biodegrade other wastes, such as the wastewater in sewerage plants.

Moreover, the probiotics in Deep Impact work in the opposite manner to antibacterial cleaning products that are frequently used in industrial cleaning operations. While these products attempt to kill harmful bacteria, probiotics use beneficial microorganisms to replenish good bacteria, subsequently controlling the harmful bacteria through the principle of competitive exclusion.

Therefore, Deep Impact’s effective formula provides an advanced and safe alternative for the many mass-produced and harmful chemicals used in, for example, the South African hospitality industry.

While the product controls and neutralises toxins, it also eradicates the source of odours, instead of concealing it with fragrant products.

Extensive research and development went into the formulation of the product, with the assistance of US-based life science company SCD Probiotics – of which Probio is an exclusive licensee. SCD Probiotics is an international group that researches, develops and tests probiotic products.

“Deep Impact has been extensively tested in local trials and is produced in a facility that complies with the good manufacturing practices guidelines of the US Food and Drug Administration,” Burns says.

Probio also provides training and technical support on how to use its products.

“Our products have been designed to be a direct replacement for many synthetic toxic chemicals currently being used in homes, commercial businesses and agricultural operations in Southern Africa,” he notes.

The company plans to extend its product offering in the near future with a heavy degreaser, a window cleaner and odour-control products.