15SAF-IP Functional mycoproteins from the Quorn fermentation process as novel sustainable ingredients

牛奶、乳清和鸡蛋目前是功能蛋白的主要来源，食品加工者将其用作乳化剂、起泡和胶凝成分。然而，由于其高成本、市场波动性和对环境的高影响，食品行业正在寻找可持续的替代品。用大豆蛋白等植物蛋白取代它们的趋势越来越大；然而，与转基因有关的大豆已经受到污染。其他策略包括从食品工业的废水中提取蛋白质，包括酿造废水和蔬菜加工副产品。在这种情况下，Marlow Foods生产真菌蛋白质(或真菌蛋白质)用于其肉类替代品产品Quorn是可持续功能蛋白质的潜在替代来源。通过将淀粉发酵成蛋白质，与牛肉制品相比，该工艺的温室气体排放量降低了90%，并对土地和水足迹产生了好处。此外，在发酵过程中会产生一种液体废流，目前尚未开发利用。目前由EPSRC资助的Marlow Foods、Heriot-Watt大学和爱丁堡大学之间的一项合作强调，从Quorn发酵液和实验室规模的废液中提取的蛋白质具有出色的起泡、乳化和/或凝胶特性，并显示出潜在的脂肪或鸡蛋替代成分。在这项初步研究之后，我们现在建议从Quorn发酵过程中生产和提取功能性真菌蛋白(FFP)，作为食品行业动物蛋白的可持续、环境友好和低成本的替代品。Innovate UK Funding将允许Marlow Foods牵头的财团根据蛋白质纯度、产量、功能性、组成和相关成本设计和评估发酵液和废液的可扩展蛋白质提取工艺。所获得的结果将被用于研究优化Quorn发酵工艺生产FFP的技术和经济可行性。然后，与玛氏巧克力和新食品创新公司合作，提取的蛋白质将被描述为食品中动物蛋白、降脂和蔗糖降低剂的功能性替代品。此外，Marlow Foods将评估将从废流中提取的FFP重新整合到Quorn工艺作为蛋清替代品(用作粘合剂)的可行性，这将进一步减少其对环境的影响。根据我们的初步研究，估计每年可生产多达13,500吨真菌蛋白质(蛋白质纯度为80%)，如果用于替代功能性动物蛋白质，每年可打开价值7100万GB的市场。此外，对废水中蛋白质提取物的开发每年可额外打开1300万GB的市场。该项目将通过为制造商提供具有成本效益的功能蛋白质替代品，使他们能够提供更便宜的产品，使消费者受益，从而有助于提高生活质量。此外，FFP作为脂肪替代品或蔗糖替代品的潜在用途可能有助于减少肥胖和2型糖尿病的影响。

Milk, whey and eggs are currently the main sources of functional proteins utilised by food processors as emulsifiers, foaming and gelling ingredients. However, due to their high costs, market volatility and high environmental impact, the food industry is looking for sustainable alternatives. There has been a growing trend to replace them with plant proteins such as soy proteins; however soy has been tainted by the association with genetic modification. Other strategies include extraction of proteins from the food industry's waste streams, including brewing effluents and vegetable processing co-products.In this context the production of fungal proteins (or mycoproteins) by Marlow Foods for use in their meat-replacer product Quorn is a potential alternative source of sustainable functional proteins. Based on the fermentation of starch into protein by the fungus Fusarium venenatum, this process was shown to result in 90% lower emission rates of greenhouse gases and benefits on land and water footprints in comparison with beef products. In addition a liquid waste stream is generated as part of the fermentation process and is currently unexploited. A current EPSRC-funded collaboration between Marlow Foods, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh highlighted that proteins extracted from the Quorn fermentation broth and waste stream on a laboratory scale displayed outstanding foaming, emulsifying and/or gelling properties, and showed potential and fat- or egg-replacing ingredients. Following this initial study, we now propose to produce and extract functional fungal proteins (FFPs) from the Quorn fermentation process as sustainable, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternatives to animal proteins for the food industry. Innovate UK funding will allow the Marlow Foods-led consortium to design and assess a scalable protein extraction process for both fermentation broth and waste stream according to protein purity, yield, functionality, composition and associated costs. The results obtained will then be used to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of optimising the Quorn fermentation process for FFP production. The extracted proteins will then be characterised as functional alternatives to animal proteins, fat-reducing and sucrose-reducing agents in food products in partnership with new collaborators Mars Chocolate and New-Food Innovation. In addition, Marlow Foods will assess the feasibility of reintegrating FFPs extracted from the waste stream back into the Quorn process as egg albumen replacer (used as a binding agent), which would further reduce its environmental impact. Based on our preliminary study it is estimated that up to 13,500 tons of fungal proteins (at 80% protein purity) could be produced per year, which if used to replace functional animal proteins could open up a market worth £71M per annum. In addition the exploitation of protein extracts from the waste effluent could open an additional £13M per annum market. This project will contribute to improve quality of life by offering manufacturers cost-effective functional protein alternatives, allowing them to offer cheaper products to the benefit of consumers. In addition, the potential use of FFPs as fat replacers or sucrose replacers could contribute to reducing the impact of obesity and type-2 diabetes.