HYDROPHOBINS: Specialized Proteins for Food (HFBfood)
In HFBfood, we will explore a new way to exploit food-grade fungi and sidestreams to obtain hydrophobin-rich fractions that can be used as functional ingredients in the production of sustainable food products. This proof-of-principle opens for future possibilities for innovative fermentation-based food ingredient production.
Much inedible side-streams, like brewer’s spent grain (BSG), are wasted because it cannot be used in its natural condition and lack of a technology for upcycling to become edible. In this project, solid-state fermentation of BSG will be used for optimal expression of hydrophobins (HFB), which will be thoroughly characterized by specialized isolation and molecular analysis and coupled with analysis of the physiochemical and functional properties. We will obtain an in-depth knowledge about HFB quality and ingredient applicability. With this knowledge the future processing of HFB ingredients can be realised and, thereby, production of highly functional protein ingredients suitable for food application. This project will pave the way for exploiting food-grade fungi to upcycle other side-streams into climate-neutral HFB-rich ingredients and fulfil the demand for ‘green’ food products.
Much inedible side-streams, like brewer’s spent grain (BSG), are wasted because it cannot be used in its natural condition and lack of a technology for upcycling to become edible. In this project, solid-state fermentation of BSG will be used for optimal expression of hydrophobins (HFB), which will be thoroughly characterized by specialized isolation and molecular analysis and coupled with analysis of the physiochemical and functional properties. We will obtain an in-depth knowledge about HFB quality and ingredient applicability. With this knowledge the future processing of HFB ingredients can be realised and, thereby, production of highly functional protein ingredients suitable for food application. This project will pave the way for exploiting food-grade fungi to upcycle other side-streams into climate-neutral HFB-rich ingredients and fulfil the demand for ‘green’ food products.
Our food production and consumption is a major problem in terms of environmental impact and need of arable land. On the other hand, many sidestreams from the plant-based food industry are poorly utilized and is wasted due to lack of knowledge and technology for transforming into food materials. The demand for sustainable foods grows exponentially and has increased the need to supply the food industry with sustainable, functional protein ingredients. This project provides an important and essential knowledge to the sustainable food production by delivering the proof-of-principle for obtaining hydrophobin proteins in a quality and with techno-functionalities that can be used to produce the future healthy and tasty plant-based foods. We use the sustainable, low resource solidstate fermentation technology on the side-stream (spent grain) from beer production to create novel, highly functional hydrophobins which are only produced by filamentous fungi.
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The hypothesis is that it is much more fertile to use natural (food-grade) fungi secreted proteins rich in HFBs, as these can be very highly expressed naturally by solid-state fermentation (SSF) of BSG. These important questions will, thus, be answered: i) what types of HFBs are secreted upon SSF of BSG and in what quantities? ii) how to fractionate them? iii) why are HFBs and their techno-functional behaviour so different? |
iv) is it needed to purify HFBs and if needed to what extent to be used as ingredient in foods?
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The overarching aim is to establish the way to harness food-grade fungi to express HFBs so that they can be functionally used as ingredients in production of food products. To test the hypothesis and achieve the goal, the work will consist of: · mRNAseq analysis of HFB · Purification of HFB-rich fractions · HFB functional properties · Testing functionality under food production conditions |
Researchers
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Associate professor Vibeke Orlien, KU External researchers Associate professor Mette Lübeck, Aalborg University Associate professor Teis Esben Søndergaard, Aalborg Universitet Professor Markus Linder, Aalto University |
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Funded by:
HYDROPHOBINS: Specialized Proteins for Food (HFBfood) has received a two year funding from Novo Nordisk Foundation, Plant Science, Agriculture and Food Biotechnology.
Project: HYDROPHOBINS: Specialized Proteins for Food (HFBfood)
Period: 1/1 2023 – 31/12 2025
