As part of the funding program „Europe for Lower Saxony,“ co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus and the European Regional Development Fund, SEGLER is working with the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) in Quakenbrück on a research project for protein extraction from grassland.
Grass protein as an unused resource
The subject of the project is the development of an innovative process for extracting RuBisCO protein from grass for human consumption, using pressing technology and PEF technology. The DIL describes the scientific basis and project goal as follows:
Over eight billion people live on Earth, and the number is rising rapidly. A person needs about 25.55 kg of protein per year. For years, the question has been how to ensure an adequate basic supply of sustainable, low-emission protein. To this end, new plant-based protein sources are constantly being sought that are available in large quantities and can serve as an alternative to animal protein. One source that has been almost entirely overlooked so far is grassland protein. Purely mathematically, 44% of the world's population could meet their protein needs through grass mowed in the EU.
The process of extracting proteins from grass can generally be divided into three main steps:
- Separation of the juice from the solids (e.g., by pressing)
- Precipitation of proteins from juice
- Final Protein Extraction and Stabilization (e.g., by Drying)
To increase the yield and economic efficiency of pressing, as well as subsequent steps, a pretreatment in the form of comminution and cell disruption is necessary. Electroporation of grass tissues or cells using pulsed electric fields (PEF) is an energy-efficient method. However, grass in its fibrous form and coarse plant parts present a particular challenge for feeding into a PEF system. This leads to the project's objective: developing a process for the conveyance and cell disruption for the extraction of grass protein – particularly ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, or RuBisCO for short – from grasses for human consumption.
PEF Technology as Key to Grass Protein Extraction
PEF technology is a non-thermal process where short high-voltage pulses make cell membranes permeable through electroporation. It is primarily used in food processing to kill microorganisms or facilitate the extraction of bioactive substances. An air-free environment is required to generate the electric field around the product. The mown grass is first pre-compacted using an Archimedean screw and then passed through a PEF cell. The air-free compression and the water content of the grass fibers are intended to ensure conductivity. After the PEF treatment, a second pressing of the fibers is carried out to separate them into liquid and solid components. Edible protein can be extracted from the resulting protein-rich fluid.
We look forward to working with the DIL Quakenbrück and thank the Struve Technology Consulting for project support.
