Improving environmental performance of industrial processes
mayo 31, 2023
FOODRUS Project
junio 16, 2023
As you know, at ALEHOOP we aim at upcycling legume and algae by-products to develop several alternative protein-rich and sustainable final products for the food & beverage industry as well as for the animal feed sector. We have seen some struggles and advances on the legume protein extraction, characterization and on the bioactivity tests that we have told you about. And, also, about the green seaweed processes. Now it’s time to dig into what has been going on from the brown algae side.
Our partners from Alginor have been working hard to develop a new process for creating a protein enriched material from seaweed. The protein sources are side-streams from the biorefinery of Laminaria hyperborea also known as tangle or cuvie. Do you wonder how they achieved it? Through a set of consecutive filtrations and washing steps the protein content, and the good news is that they were able to obtain up to 40% of extracted protein from brown algae.
Alginor produced this protein enriched material in a small-scale pilot run and sent to all ALEHOOP partners for initial evaluation as ingredient in the vegetarian and vegan protein final products that the project aims at developing: protein bars, shakes and meat-replacements. Another objective is evaluating the flavor profile for other potential final products.
Furthermore, the potential as a protein source for animal feed will be evaluated by other members of the consortium. This protein enriched material contains all essential amino acids, in particular high amounts of lysine, cysteine and methionine, showing high potential for complementary use with proteins from some legumes.
So, what are the next steps for our colleagues from Alginor? After the success of the lab scale tests and the protein extraction, now it’s time to up-scale the processes, which will happen during these next months before our next meeting. So nice and motivating to see all our project’s advances!
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