Linda van Kollenburg
- 20 jun. 2022
- 6 minuten om te lezen

A review of the alternative protein industry

PaulWood, MahyaTavan This review looks at the field of alternative proteins and, in particular, the challenges for those products seeking to attract consumers away from animal-based products. Improving the sustainability of our food systems is a major driver for companies in this field with claims around lower land and water utilization, reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, and improvements in biodiversity. Developing alternative protein products with good nutritional profiles will rely on supplementation with minerals and vitamins and the use of proteins with high-quality amino acid profiles and good bioavailability.

Introduction Alternative proteins for inclusion in new food products are one of the most widely discussed topics in food science. We need to manage the challenges of producing significantly more food for an expanding world population while simultaneously reducing the environmental foodprint of our agricultural systems. It is estimated that the world population will grow to 9.8 billion by 2050, and the vast majority of this will be in developing countries in Africa and Asia. Therefore, both accessibility and affordability will need to be considered if alternative proteins are to be a significant part of the solution. Currently, our agricultural system accounts for 26% of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, with livestock responsible for half of this; therefore, replacement proteins that do not require animals are major drivers for alternative protein companies [1]. The level of investment in alternative proteins has rapidly increased with billions invested and hundreds of new companies entering this sector. In a recent report, the market for alternative proteins was predicted to reach $290 billion by 2035 [2]. This review covers plant-based meat and milk products, fermented and cell-cultured products, precision fermentation, insect proteins, and microalgal-based products. We also discuss the need to balance the nutritional value of these new food products, with their ability to improve the sustainability of our food systems.

Section snippets Plant-based protein products Plant-based meat and dairy alternatives have been around for many years, but they have gained increasing popularity only over the past few years. Owing to the recent trends toward veganism and environmental concerns around animal-based products, plant-based products such as legume-based burgers, patties, fried balls, and milk analogs have undergone a considerable market expansion. The plant-based food market is estimated to grow from $29.4 billion in 2020 to $162 billion in 2030 [3]. DespiteCellular agriculture The concept of growing mammalian and avian cells in large fermenters (over 10 000 L) to produce meat products without the need for animals has captured significant levels of investment in the last few years with over 70 companies in this space [7]. The first commercial product in this space was approved in Singapore in 2020 when Eat Just started selling cell-cultured chicken nuggets in a single restaurant. The basic technology for the culture of mammalian cells was developed by theMycoproteins The scarcity of protein-rich foods in many countries in the years after The Second World War initiated a series of research projects aiming to convert microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, into a viable source of protein for human consumption [13]. Later, mycoproteins, commonly known by their trade name, Quorn (Marlow Foods; Stokesley, North Yorkshire, UK), made their way into the alternative protein market and became one of the most successful meat substitutes. Mycoproteins are producedInsect proteins While around two billion people in 130 countries regularly eat insects, it has been the challenge of how we manage food waste that has driven the development of large-scale insect-farming facilities. Companies such as Protix and Enterra have built large-scale facilities and are producing over 6000 tonnes of insects per year [16]. The majority of this protein goes into pet food or animal feed, particularly for aquaculture, poultry, and pork. The most commonly farmed insects are black soldierPrecision fermentation or recombinant proteins One of the great achievements of biotechnology has been the ability to produce recombinant molecules in stable expression systems in significant commercial quantities. This has led to the development of a wide range of new drugs and vaccines. The food industry quickly adopted this technology to engineer improved strains of yeast for baking and brewing and produce a range of enzymes that had previously been hard to manufacture [18]. Chymosin (rennet) used in the manufacture of cheese wasMicroalgae Microalgae is another promising ingredient to be used as a primary ingredient in the alternative protein industry. The industrial use of algae is not limited to the food industry as it has long been used in various other fields such as biodiesel production and in cosmetic products. The most commonly used microalgae in the food industry are Arthrospira sp. (marketed as spirulina) and Chlorella sp. with a protein content as high as over 50% of dry weight. However, the bioavailability of proteinsThe issues around nutrition Emerging alternative protein products must be of complete nutritional value and support the long-term public health goals. A recent study has compared the nutritional composition of a commercially available plant-based meat alternative with that of grass-fed meat with almost identical Nutrition Facts Panels, using a metabolomic approach. Their results showed that 22 metabolites were exclusively found in meat and nonexistent in the plant-based alternative. On the other hand, there were 31The need for sustainability In 2015, The United Nations introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including 169 specific targets toward a more sustainable world by 2050. Much of the rationale for developing alternative protein products is driven by the aim to be more sustainable, but we must balance the need to ensure that nutrition is not neglected. Programs such as the DELTA Model aim to design tools that allow users to design a global food-production system and to see how it measures up against the nutritionalConclusions and future prospectives There is no doubt that it is an exciting time for the alternative protein field, and with over $2 billion invested in companies in the last two years alone, there are high expectations for growth in this field. However, some caution has been shown around companies as they scale their business, with both Beyond Meat and Oatly having lost over 60% of their market value in the last year when they failed to meet the financial market expectations. For those products seeking to compete againstConflict of interest statement The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships, which may be considered as potential competing interests: Paul Wood is on the Board of Dairy Australia, a black soldier fly Insect company and the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines. Mahya Tavan declares no conflict of interest.

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