Two projects on the development of ingredients for plant-based foods by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) were approved for The Good Food Institute's (GFI) Research Grants program. The proposals are among 21 projects by scientists from nine countries, and they will receive US$ 4 million in investment. The funding comes from donations and the projects are due to be concluded in up to 24 months. One of the projects takes place at Embrapa Food Technology (Rio de Janeiro, RJ), led by the researcher Caroline Mellinger, in partnership with Embrapa Rice and Beans (Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO). The goal is to optimize the production of a suitable protein concentrate and isolate from common beans, and contribute to accelerate iscaling of plant-based meat via a highly produced crop. The idea is to make it viable so that Brazilian companies adopt the asset, and thus increase the supply of plant-based protein, first nationally, then in the international market. The other project is by Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry (Fortaleza, CE) and is led by the researcher Ana Paula Dionísio. The project focus is to develop economically feasible technologies to transform cashew apple waste into plant-based meat. According to information from GFI, it is estimated that the global plant-based food market will reach between US$ 100 billion and US$ 370 billion by 2035. Lourdes Cabral, head of Embrapa Food Technology, observes that the partnership with the Institute is strategic, as funds for the development of the approved projects will be used to generate prototypes of plant protein ingredients and make them available for the production sector. “Both aim at developing ingredients that have a competitive cost, in order to help the industrial scale-up of the products, while perfecting sensory characteristics like texture and flavor, with suitable nutritional value", adds the coordinator of the GFI Brazil's Department of Science and Technology, Katherine de Matos. GFI The Good Food Institute is formed by a team of business, science and public policy experts, which works to generate innovation in the food industry. The goal of this initiative is to promote new sources of protein, which complement the global food supply by offering alternatives that are similar to animal sources. Fostering research is one of the aims of the Institute, which works to accelerate the market arrival of plant-based or cultivated meat food products that are flavorful, affordable and with wide distribution. “If we want to see alternative proteins become a fundamental part of the global food chain, we need to generate scientific knowledge through research", concludes Erin Rees Clayton, GFI's associate director of science and technology. Translation: Mariana Medeiros
Two projects on the development of ingredients for plant-based foods by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) were approved for The Good Food Institute's (GFI) Research Grants program. The proposals are among 21 projects by scientists from nine countries, and they will receive US$ 4 million in investment. The funding comes from donations and the projects are due to be concluded in up to 24 months.
One of the projects takes place at Embrapa Food Technology (Rio de Janeiro, RJ), led by the researcher Caroline Mellinger, in partnership with Embrapa Rice and Beans (Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO). The goal is to optimize the production of a suitable protein concentrate and isolate from common beans, and contribute to accelerate iscaling of plant-based meat via a highly produced crop. The idea is to make it viable so that Brazilian companies adopt the asset, and thus increase the supply of plant-based protein, first nationally, then in the international market. The other project is by Embrapa Tropical Agroindustry (Fortaleza, CE) and is led by the researcher Ana Paula Dionísio. The project focus is to develop economically feasible technologies to transform cashew apple waste into plant-based meat.
According to information from GFI, it is estimated that the global plant-based food market will reach between US$ 100 billion and US$ 370 billion by 2035. Lourdes Cabral, head of Embrapa Food Technology, observes that the partnership with the Institute is strategic, as funds for the development of the approved projects will be used to generate prototypes of plant protein ingredients and make them available for the production sector.
“Both aim at developing ingredients that have a competitive cost, in order to help the industrial scale-up of the products, while perfecting sensory characteristics like texture and flavor, with suitable nutritional value", adds the coordinator of the GFI Brazil's Department of Science and Technology, Katherine de Matos.
GFI
The Good Food Institute is formed by a team of business, science and public policy experts, which works to generate innovation in the food industry. The goal of this initiative is to promote new sources of protein, which complement the global food supply by offering alternatives that are similar to animal sources.
Fostering research is one of the aims of the Institute, which works to accelerate the market arrival of plant-based or cultivated meat food products that are flavorful, affordable and with wide distribution. “If we want to see alternative proteins become a fundamental part of the global food chain, we need to generate scientific knowledge through research", concludes Erin Rees Clayton, GFI's associate director of science and technology.
Translation: Mariana Medeiros
