Alternative Proteins
The production of food-safe alternative proteins has emerged as a significant industry worldwide. These alternatives are essential for addressing environmental and ethical concerns, and they are playing a transformative role in the future of food. The alternative protein market is projected to exceed $290 billion by 2030, driven by the nutritional, environmental, and food security benefits they offer.
Why is filtration critical in the production of alternative proteins?
Producing high-quality alternative proteins is complex and requires careful management to avoid thermal, chemical, or mechanical stress, contamination from suspended solids, bioburden, and anti-nutritional factors. Conventional extraction methods often use harsh chemicals such as strong acids and bases to precipitate globulins at specific pH levels, followed by centrifugation. However, these methods denature proteins, affecting their solubility and key functional properties like thickening, emulsification, gelling, foaming, and water retention.
Crossflow microfiltration is an effective alternative to traditional chemical precipitation and centrifuge separators for purifying feed, resulting in a cleaner extraction of native and functional proteins. Also, conventional methods mostly extract globulins, which are insoluble and not as functional as albumins (which are solubilized in the liquid phase and often lost via centrifuge overflow). Fortunately, crossflow microfiltration can recover globulins and soluble albumins, increasing the protein yield and value-added functionality.
Effective filtration is vital in producing consistently high-quality, functional, stable, and safe proteins, making it a fundamental step in the advanced protein production process.
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Upcycling
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Plant Based Proteins
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Fermentation
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Cellular Agriculture
According to the UN, nearly 8% of global greenhouse emissions can be attributed to food loss and waste. Upcycling diverts and valorizes byproducts or waste streams into high-value ingredients (proteins) suitable for human consumption that otherwise would have ended as landfills or cheaper animal feed. Since these streams are considered "by-products" or "waste landfills," it is critical that the CAPEX required to valorize them is financially justified.
Plant-based proteins extracted from sources such as soy, rice, lentils, and beans are expected to reach a market value of 20.5 billion USD by 2029. These proteins can be classified based on their protein content as follows: flours (<50%), concentrates (50-80%), and isolates (>85%). Traditional extraction methods can denature the protein, which affects its functionality. Pall's membrane systems provide a solution by preserving the protein structure and creating high-quality isolates.
Fermentation is considered sustainable as it only takes a few hours to produce the final product. Hence, the carbon, land and water footprint is comparably minimal. There are two types of fermentations for producing proteins: Biomass fermentation involves using the entire cell (bacteria, yeast, fungi/mycelium) as the final product after removing impurities. Precision fermentation is achieved by inserting the gene and targeting the microorganism to produce specific proteins like enzymes, whey, casein, lactoferrin, and egg albumin.
Cultivated meat is produced by harnessing animal cells to mimic the natural process that occurs inside an animal's body. This pioneering approach to meat production offers a significant improvement in efficiency compared to traditional methods. It optimizes land use, decreases the risk of fecal contamination, and reduces the reliance on antibiotics, making it a promising alternative for sustainable food production.
Why are alternative proteins important?
Alternative proteins are an ideal solution against climate change, feeding the growing population, consumer choices and supply chain. The growing demand for this market reflects a shift towards flexitarian/plant-based and vegan diets, which is also driven by increasing awareness of their health benefits and importance as part of a nutritious and balanced lifestyle, animal welfare & ethics and greenhouse gas emissions concerns. Diversifying the food chain’s protein sources is critical to feed the growing population as the current sources are limited and not sustainable. As a result, the food and beverage industry is increasingly investing in resources and capabilities to take advantage of its continued growth and provide consumers with choices.
Pall has been an industry leader in providing membrane solutions for protein extraction, separation and purification for decades. The dairy industry has isolated high-value proteins from milk using Pall membranes. Innovation in Pall membrane processing is now being applied in this market. The use of membranes minimizes denaturation by avoiding chemicals and high temperatures.
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