Plant protein ingredients

Between techno-functionality, sensory properties, human nutrition and sustainability

Authors: Ute Schweiggert-Weisz, Susanne Gola, Andrea Bauer, Christina Diekmann, Sarah Egert, Philipp Brandt, Simon Früh, Andreas Detzel

Research on plant-based proteins is still in its early stages. The effects of manufacturing processes on their chemical composition (nutritive and potentially ‘anti-nutritive’ components), on their techno-functional and on their sensory properties are not yet fully understood. Additionally, the
influence of different processing levels on the nutritional quality remains unclear, as does the question of whether plant proteins are truly more sustainable than conventional animal proteins. 

Within the NewFoodSystems Innovation Space, three projects aim to shed light on these questions:

• ‘Sustainable protein ingredients’,
• ‘AlProPlant’ and
• ‘Pr:Ins – Holistic assessment’ 

Findings of these projects are presented in this article.