Forschung für den Mittelstand - Die IGF-Projektdatenbank

Alternative Rohstoffe für Nahrungsproteine aus Blättern

The German-Brazilian consortium of the LeaFood project aims to develop sustainable processes for the production of protein concentrates and/or isolates comprising soluble and membrane bound proteins with protein contents of up to 90 % by reducing adjacent compounds from the leaves of cassava and sugar beet.The applied research method includes the whole value chain. At first, field tests for the optimization of leave biomass production and harvesting of cassava will be executed. Different post-harvest treatments including different washing, sorting and preserving procedures will be applied to receive stable raw materials for protein isolation.

In order to improve the extraction yield and purity, protein losses due to enzymatic deterioration will be prevented by the use of agents with different mechanisms of action (scavenging phenolic compounds, acidify extraction medium, reduce oxidized phenolic compounds), solubilization of membrane-bound proteins will be facilitated by salts and detergents. Besides, cell disintegration will be improved by enzymatic, mechanical, or electrical means. Resulting protein extracts will be ultrafiltered or precipitated under acidic conditions for purification. Finally, the application potential of the resulting protein ingredients will be tested in different model foods.

The outcome of LeaFood will be a process for the profitable exploitation of underutilized post-harvest residues of cassava and sugar beets and will contribute to increase the income of farmers by using an under-utilized sidestream. Thereby, novel proteins, which might bring new functionalities for an application in food products, will be processed. These proteins offer SMEs a substitution of animal-based protein or conventional plant-based protein in new food products and the possibility to enter new markets and acquire new customers. Thus, LeaFood as a precompetitive project lays the basis for further economic exploitation of the project results and advanced process optimizations to be performed prior to marketing.