Innovative extract from seaweed to protein
Food researchers from Technical University of Denmark have invented methods for extracting proteins from seaweed. One of them is now being tested in a pilot plant at the Danish ingredient producer CP Kelco.
Flasks filled with seaweed have been a common sight in the laboratories at Technical University of Denmark DTU Food for the past 3-4 years. During this time, a research group headed by Professor Charlotte Jacobsen has been testing methods to extract proteins from three varieties of seaweed.
“For two of the varieties, we can extract the proteins using enzymes. In the third variety, enzymes did not work at all. In this case we discovered that it was possible to extract proteins by making the pH value more alkaline,” says Professor Charlotte Jacobsen.
One of the seaweed varieties being tested in the laboratory is the red Spinosum (Eucheuma denticulatum), which the Danish indredient producer CP Kelco imports to extract carrageenan. This is used as a stabilizer and thickener in everything from chocolate milk and meat products to toothpaste and face cream.
An unexpected benefit
The DTU researchers first tried to extract proteins from the waste seaweed from CP Kelco, but found that the protein yield was too low as a result of the carrageenan extraction.
“We had to find a different method, so that we could extract the proteins first. We now have promising results from the laboratory that show that extracting protein first does result in poorer quality carrageenan subsequently being extracted,” explains Professor Charlotte Jacobsen. In fact, the protein extraction actually improves the carrageenan as a final product, reports Karin Meyer Hansen:
“During the extraction of proteins, the seaweed’s natural colour is removed. This is an advantage for us, as many customers want a colourless carrageenan that adds nothing but texture to their products. So the more colourless and tasteless it is, the better.”
However, being able to extract proteins and the fact that the carrageenan is good quality is still not enough.
Vegetable proteins in demand
The Danish plant based food company Third Wave Nutrition is taking part in the project to test whether the seaweed proteins can be used in the dietary supplements and other protein products.
“It would be revolutionary to get a new source of high quality vegetable proteins. We see proteins as being high quality when they have the right composition of amino acids, are uncontaminated by heavy metals or pesticides, and do not add a bad taste to our products,” says Henrik Schimmel, CEO of Third Wave Nutrition.
The seaweed proteins do not yet fulfil all these requirements, Third Wave Nutrition notes, but the company is ready to do more tests when CP Kelco produces proteins in its pilot plant.
The DTU professor agrees that more work is necessary to produce proteins of a quality acceptable for use in food.
“We’re still facing some challenges with proteins, and more work needs to be done before we see seaweed proteins in consumer products. But we have proven the general principle that it is possible to extract proteins from seaweed. In one seaweed variety we were able to extract up to 90 per cent of the protein content,” says Charlotte Jacobsen.
Source: Technical University of Denmark