20 August 2024

Full of beans

As plant-based diets gain traction, Ireland is shifting its focus to high-quality plant proteins, notably faba beans. With production increasing, these beans promise soil enrichment, sustainable farming and advanced meat alternatives.

Animesh Singh Sengar from Teasgasc Ashtown sets up the screw profile of pilot-scale extruder. Photo credit: Teagasc

In response to global concerns about food security and climate change, there has been a significant shift towards plant-based diets. The expected consequences of this dietary transition include improved environmental footprint and heightened resilience within the agri-food sector.

Ireland, renowned for its high-quality beef products, is also capable of delivering high-quality plant proteins.

A faba-ulous crop option

The country has witnessed a sharp increase in beans and peas production, rising by almost 24% from 2022 to 2023, as reported by the Central Statistics Office.

Faba beans, in particular, have a high growth potential in Ireland due to the suitable agro-climatic conditions. It’s a combinable crop (crops cut using a combine harvester) and well-suited in Irish rotations as a break crop for cereals (to break the cycle of pests and weeds). Their exceptional nitrogen fixation capacity naturally enriches the soil with inorganic nitrogen compounds – for example, they boost soil fertility naturally, reducing the reliance on synthetic fertilisers.

Animesh Singh Sengar, a Walsh Scholar from the Food Industry Development Department at Teagasc Ashtown, is working on the Teagasc-funded Shift+Enter project that aligns with the deliverables of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine-funded U-Protein (Unlocking Protein Resource Opportunities To Evolve Ireland’s Nutrition). Animesh’s project recognises the potential of Irish faba bean varieties to transform the plant protein market.

“Our focus is to identify and characterise faba bean varieties that will best grow in spring and winter seasons of Ireland,” he explains.

Shivani Pathania, Senior Research Officer on the project, adds: “The project is fostering strong interdisciplinary collaborations by establishing feedback loops between the processing and crop research teams at Teagasc Oak Park.”

Moreover, a scalable structure-forming technique, i.e. high-moisture extrusion of Irish pulse protein, is currently being assessed to develop a cross-linked and elongated meat-like fibrous network.

Shredded high-moisture meat alternatives with seasonings. Photo credit: Teagasc

Analysing bean character

Four spring varieties (Tiffany, Lynx, Fanfare and Cartouche) and four winter varieties (Vespa, Irena, Tundra and Augusta) of faba beans have been assessed for their agronomic behaviour and yield.

The bean flours were systematically characterised, feeding into a comprehensive database that takes into account their nutritional profile, functional properties and thermal suitability for processing. The project also explores the isolation and characterisation of proteins for the development of high-moisture meat alternatives.

The high protein content of faba bean flours was evident from their 28-33% protein concentration, with winter varieties exhibiting higher protein content than spring varieties. Osborne fractionation – a technique to produce protein – of flours showed the highest recovery of water soluble proteins, eliminating the need to use chemical solvents and enabling the product to have a green label. Irena, a winter variety, had the highest protein recovery, followed by the spring variety Cartouche.

“All the faba bean flours are rich in lysine amino acid, which has potential to lower cholesterol levels,” says Animesh. “Their functional properties are comparable to the other commercially popular legume flours. Our findings reveal that Irish faba bean flours could serve as a viable source of alternative proteins.”  

Plant protein to support meat’s future

Meat alternatives in the diet could increase the plant-based food intake.

Meat alternatives are in-demand products that require constant research through exploring new ingredients and the integration of technologies.

The National Prepared Consumer Food Centre, Teagasc Ashtown, houses laboratory and pilot-scale extrusion facilities producing high-moisture meat alternatives (HMMA), and are using versatile and scalable twin-screw extrusion technology to structure Irish plant proteins into meat alternatives. The project evaluates the possibility of developing hybrid meat products by combining indigenous Irish meat with meat alternatives.

The extruder, equipped with a long cooling die, ensures the restructured protein dough cools down before being discharged from the machine. Understanding and controlling structure formation require consideration of machine parameter settings, machine configuration and ingredient properties.

Plans are in place to develop HMMA using air-classified Irish plant protein concentrates, which will enhance the fibre content in HMMA in order to meet dietary needs. These developed HMMA are further processed and seasoned to create end-products such as patties and shredded meat alternatives.

81,300 tonnes

Beans and peas production in 2023 – up from 65,700 tonnes in 2002.

Funding

This research was funded by the Teagasc-funded Shift+Enter project, and by the U-protein project funding (2019PROG702) received by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) programme.

Contributors

Animesh Singh Sengar, Walsh Scholar, Food Industry Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown.

Sheila Alves, Research Officer, Alternative Crops Agronomy, Crops Research Centre, Teagasc Oak Park.

Uma Tiwari, Lecturer, Technological University Dublin.

Shivani Pathania, Senior Research Officer, Food Industry Development Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown.
shivani.pathania@teagasc.ie