Sunday, 9 October 2022

Microbiologists and 'New' Foods?

Many companies are exploring alternative sources of proteins, acceptable to vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians. The Netherlands-based company, Abunda, is one such (https://www.enough-food.com/what-is-it). Abunda make 'Enough'. This starts with a source of starch, like wheat. The starch undergoes enzymatic hydrolysis, breaking it down into glucose. This glucose is then fermented, using a micro-organism to make alcohol and protein. The protein, marketed as 'Enough' is a powder extracted from the process. It can be employed as a food ingredient or even used to 'bulk-out' traditional animal proteins (like mince). The micro-organism clearly takes up nitrogen from the atmosphere, as 'Enough' is advertised as having 9 'essential' amino acids, as well as being rich in zinc and iron. One might ask, what about the other 11 amino acids? All 20 are actually needed to make the complete array of proteins for a healthy body. Having said that, Enough and similar products are interesting developments. They don't involve other animals, like cows. Consequently, production is faster, less energetically wasteful, completely humane and involves no burping of the 'greenhouse gas' methane. Perhaps we will be able (if we wish), to largely dispense with using other animals for food production? We will, however, become even more dependent on the food chemists. The chemists, of course, have to use the unique abilities of plants and fungi to fashion new foods.

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