Beneficiary: Prof. Hans-Jürgen Danneel

Project description

The need for food crops that are both protein rich and sustainable is increasing. The food industry is continuing to opt more and more for plant proteins, e.g. from peas or soya. These are employed in vegan products and certain diet plans, as well as sport or baby formula. The GO-Bio "NuTriPep" project aims to supply these emerging markets with premium peptide combinations with alternatives made from plant-based raw materials.

The team, led by biochemist Hans-Jürgen Danneel from the Institute for Food Technologies at the Ostwestphalia-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, draws on agricultural by-products, which accumulate during the processing of oats, corn, canola or hops. The team wishes to use these sources of raw material, which have been largely undervalued up to now, to extract high-quality protein from peas, rice, soya or dairy waste that are superior to conventional plant-based proteins. A new kind of extraction and fractionation procedure has been developed for that purpose. The technology used in the manufacturing process can be adapted to the respective raw material and protein hydrolysis can be conducted gradually in a controlled manner using enzymes.

Fractioning involves a chromographic separation process derived from the sugar industry. The researchers have applied peptide that enables unwanted constituent elements to be removed, while at the same time fortifying it with valuable ingredients and functional properties.

The GO-Bio grant will determine the economic feasibility of the technology and a pilot plant (scale: 50 kg per day) will be used for "proof of technology". The team aims to develop new high-quality peptide combinations that will meet customers' demands for an ecological and nutritional product that demonstrates enhanced properties compared to current plant-based proteins. To meet that goal, the start-up team hopes to meet with potential customers to develop a product sample for their specific application. Owing to the project's high applicability, it has been categorised as in the second stage of funding. A company will therefore be established when the project kicks off. It will specialise in developing plant-based peptide combinations as food additives for diet products, as well as nutrition for athletes, babies and senior citizens. Upon conclusion of the funding programme, the products are expected to be manufactured at an industrial scale (500 tonnes per year).