Rescued ingredients: Upcycled potato fruit water offers new source of protein

13 Jul 2021 --- Potato fruit water is a byproduct of the potato starch industry and a source of new functional proteins. With the “rescued ingredients” trend ripe for industry-wide adoption, this untapped resource is presented as the focus of a new business venture led by Danish biotech company Lihme Protein Solutions and Duynie Group, a Dutch upcycling specialist.

The partnership envisions that proteins sourced from potato starch side streams will be “highly coveted” for their climate-positive and animal welfare credentials.

“This partnership brings expertise, experience and entrepreneurship together,” says Robbert van Breda, chief new business offer at Duynie Group.

“It’s an important step towards the large-scale production of the next generation functional proteins from plants, without compromising on taste and quality.”

Leveraging unique separation technologies
Lihme Protein Solutions develops unique separation technologies for commercial scale isolation of native food protein ingredients and bioactive proteins with high purity.

The Danish company applies its separation technologies to a broad range of sources including functional protein ingredients from plants, value added proteins from milk and whey, and functional proteins produced by precision fermentation.

“Duynie Group is an ideal partner for us, embodying entrepreneurial acumen and successful industrial tradition,” remarks Allan Lihme, CEO of Lihme Protein Solutions. “We could not wish for a better partner for our new processes, which are the crowning result of decades of technical development and commercial applications.”

Upcycling has been branded “the new recycling” by Innova Market Insights.Meanwhile, Duynie Group is among Europe’s largest companies active in the valorization of co-products released in the food, beverage and biofuel industries.

Rescued ingredients
Upcycling has been branded “the new recycling” by Innova Market Insights, presenting an attractive opportunity for businesses to curb food waste and loss, while scaling a host of new value-added F&B products from these side streams.

Emergent concepts within this space now include alcoholic spirits from upcycled whey, chewy snacks from fruit surplus, and prebiotic sugars from fiber-rich agricultural waste.

In other unique developments within the space, Dutch plant-based ingredients manufacturer Fooditive Group is launching GoPeasy, a pea-based dairy-free beverage that mimics the taste of milk. The beverage will be immediately available for sale to consumers and aligns with the company’s strategy to offer healthy and affordable products.

Barry Callebaut recently revealed its WholeFruit chocolate range’s “first expression,” Evocao, made from 100 percent upcycled cacaofruit. This new offering can be used as couverture by chefs and artisans.

Upcycling ingredients and by-products, including tomato and pig liver, was also the focus of the 2021 Rethink Protein Challenge hosted by Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands.

By Benjamin Ferrer