Chinese company Angel Yeast has unveiled a range of yeast-based proteins at the 2022 International Forum on Food Safety and Health.
The proteins have been created to offer an alternative solution for the Earth’s future food supply.
The company has built 12 yeast production lines to provide enough annual capacity to distribute the finished products.
Yeast proteins have a higher nutritional value as they contain essential amino acids that have a positive impact on muscle building and regulate intestinal microbes.
On the sustainability front, Angel Yeast says the protein’s production significantly reduces deforestation and emissions of carbon and methane. Using less arable land and unaffected by seasonal or climate factors, the yeast-based alternative protein can help food makers meet production targets even if they are using a large number of proteins.
“The global population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations, and the gap between food access and population growth will grow increasingly evident, with a projected protein deficit of 250 million tons by 2050,” said Qin Xianwu, chief quality officer and chief engineer at Angel Yeast.
“With the rapid deterioration of the global climate, we are seeing increased deforestation as people look to snap up more arable land, as well as growing demand for meat, which in turn is accelerating the consumption of cereal grains. This, along with greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, means that building a sustainable, high-quality protein supply model has become an urgent matter.”
The company has also upgraded the technology in vegetarian meat processing and vegetarian meat flavourings by replacing soy protein with yeast protein during the vegetarian meat preparation. In addition, some research is being conducted on the breeding of high protein yeast strains.
Once successful, Angel Yeast will be able to produce a batch of high-purity yeast protein suitable for use in condiments, meat products, plant-based alt-meats, dairy beverages, and nutritional foods.
“Yeast protein tech is predicted to become the primary means of protecting the Earth’s food supply in the future,” said Qin Xianwu. “It presents an alternative solution with advantages such as low resource consumption, high efficiency, environmental sustainability, and comprehensive nutritional value.”
