Researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland are currently working on a project called Prominent that aims to extract novel plant-based protein from cereals and grains in an effort to reduce food waste. Project leader Emilia Norlund believes that novel sources of plant protein—which the project aims to promote for use in prepared foods in place of dairy and meat ingredients—extracted from crops typically fed to farmed animals will create a more efficient global food system. “Cattle farming is a big issue in climate change,” Nordlund said. “So, if we can move toward using [more] plant-based foods and not feed the crops to animals, there is no doubt that it would benefit the whole planet. Indeed, there are many calculations that show that plant-based food is much more sustainable when we think about the environmental issues.” Similarly, food technology startup JUST is using its proprietary discovery technology to identify viable plant-based replacements for animal products and has found success with its new vegan egg replacer JUST Egg, a product made from mung bean proteins that mimic animal eggs.
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