New, unique pilot line in Flanders for innovative proteins
Chickpeas, soy, insects, algae and even bacteria and fungi are some of the many sources of protein that will start playing a greater role in the agri-food industry of tomorrow. But to successfully incorporate these new types of proteins into food products, the world still lacks certain knowledge and process expertise. This will now be changing thanks to the brand-new protein processing line at the Food Pilot in Flanders, operated in the town of Melle by research center ILVO and spearhead cluster Flanders’ FOOD.
For R&D-driven agri-food companies
The infrastructure enables agri-food companies and researchers to test the entire process from raw alternative protein sources to pure ready-to-eat protein ingredients on a pilot scale. The pilot line also consists of equipment that can perform each step from harvested raw material, over protein concentrates and isolates to even textured proteins on a semi-industrial scale and in a controlled manner. This makes it possible to optimize each of the processes to obtain protein-rich, high-quality food products.
Thanks to this pilot infrastructure, food companies gain access to research to produce innovative, top-quality food that is competitive, respects sustainability and allows the wide range of protein sources to find their way into our diet.
Extracting alternative protein ingredients requires processing steps that could potentially impact the functional properties, nutritional quality and taste of proteins. The new pilot infrastructure enables us to gain more insight into this for different protein sources.
Collective research projects
Several collective research projects also plan to experiment using the new pilot infrastructure. For example, the Flanders’ FOOD project TexProSoy, a collaboration with ILVO and KU Leuven, will study the effect of the extraction and texturization process on the properties of soy proteins.
Another Flanders’ FOOD project, called ProFuNu, involves a collaboration with UGent, KU Leuven, ILVO and Thomas More. Focusing on proteins from peas, mealworms, spirulina and fungi, it aims to examine the impact of processing on nutritional and functional quality, digestibility and intestinal health.
Government support
For the installation of the new pilot line, the partner organizations could rely on a EUR 208,000 grant from the ERDF project Plant Protein Pilot as well as a EUR 104,000 subsidy from Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) and additional support from the Province of East Flanders. Contributions from ILVO through the VLAIO project TexProSoy as well as co-financing from the members of Flanders’ FOOD also helped make the pilot line happen.
In the future, the pilot line will be further expanded with smaller-scale equipment through the Innolab project, which can also count on an ERDF grant of EUR 512,000 and support from the province of East Flanders. The total investment amounts to over EUR 1.5 million.
Reported by
website VLAIO
