A PILOT scale trial is underway to create commercial volumes of a modified lupin protein which can be used to create various plant-based foods for human consumption.
The project belongs to Wide Open Agriculture (WOA) which, alongside research partners Curtin University and CSIRO, is aiming to use the novel plant-based protein to create alternative meats, plant-based beverages and gluten-free alternatives of bread, pasta and noodles.
The technology was originally created at Curtin University by associate professor Stuart Johnson and PhD student Hayder Al-Ali and works by making the lupin-protein gelatinous - a sticky substance, which when mixed with other things, combines with them.
The patented technology that was developed at Curtin had been done at a small, laboratory scale, however further pilot scale research conducted by CSIRO has produced food-grade, lupin protein isolate using industrial grade food processing equipment.
WOA managing director Ben Cole said the breakthrough was the biggest achievement in their lupin project to date.
"The results are really promising in that CSIRO's pilot scale is creating a modified lupin protein that is very similar to the one that the lab scale process at Curtin did," Dr Cole said.
"Preliminary taste testing has also found the samples to have a neutral taste, providing additional confidence of its potential use as a plant-based protein source across a wide spectrum of food products.
"WOA and our partners will continue to test and refine the production process in preparation to undertake a techno-economic assessment which will provide a detailed process flow of the novel production system and provide guidance on the commercial production of lupin protein isolate."
WOA is Australia's leading regenerative food and agriculture company with a business model that looks at blockages which stop farmers from being able to farm more regeneratively and stop consumers from being able to eat more regeneratively grown food.
With lupins, WOA realised that while there were some companies making products from the legume, it was a very small and niche market and the way to change that was to elevate lupins from being seen as predominantly animal feed to human food.
Dr Cole said when the company saw what the technology at Curtin could do and the growing trend and demand for plant-based proteins, they thought it the perfect opportunity to elevate lupins into a wider variety of food products.
"When farmers plant lupins, they're making a compromise in their potential gross margin because of the commodity price, so our ambition is to make the lupin price higher by making it a valuable human food resource," he said.
"Lupins are an exciting product in regards to crop rotation - it's a legume which sequesters nitrogen naturally and it's a great break crop against cereals.
"If we could encourage more farmers to get more lupins in the ground that would be a huge outcome for us and our regenerative objectives."
The patent for the technology is held by Curtin University, with WOA holding an exclusive global licence that covers the patented method for creating a novel plant-based protein from Australian sweet lupin and its use as a plant-based protein food ingredient.
With the project now at the food-grade pilot scale, the next step for WOA is to start putting the protein into various products for people to try.
"We can use our food brand Dirty Clean Food as a pathway to bring a product out to market quite quickly and that could be at the trial phase within the next six to 12 months," Dr Cole said.
"We also see it as potentially being an ingredient that very large food companies across Australia and globally would be interested in trialling, so that is probably more 12 to 18 months away as we would need a commercial plant that could provide the volume required.
"We've got a long list of food companies from Australia, South East Asia, Europe and America who have asked for samples and want to put it into their research and development and see how it works."
