People are becoming more aware of plant-based meats as they appear on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus. And cultivated – or cell-based meat – is also attracting attention after recently debuting in a Singapore restaurant. However, there is a third platform emerging in the alternative protein industry and that is fermentation. And it has the potential to become a major player according to a new report from The Good Food Institute pointing out it can act not only as a primary source of proteins but as an enabler for both plant-based products and cultivated animal products.
WHAT IS FERMENTATION?
Fermentation is a process that uses microorganisms e.g., fungi, bacteria, microalgae and other microbes, to produce alternative proteins. It already has a long history in food production e.g., to preserve foods, create alcoholic beverages, and improve the nutritional value and bioavailability of foods such as yogurt. Most people are already regularly consuming products that rely on fermentation.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FERMENTATION?
Traditional fermentation is the process of changing a food through microbial anaerobic digestion. This is how beer, wine, yogurt, and cheese are made and it can be used to improve the flavour of plant ingredients e.g., tempeh.
Photo: Brendio at wts Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Biomass fermentation uses the high-protein content and rapid growth of microorganisms to make large amounts of protein-rich food. In this application, the microorganisms that reproduce through this process are themselves ingredients for alternative proteins.
Precision fermentation uses microorganisms to produce specific functional ingredients e.g., insulin for diabetes and rennet for cheese, and enables alternative protein producers to efficiently make specific proteins, enzymes, flavour molecules, vitamins, pigments and fats.
According to the report, fermentation has the capability to play a role across the alt-protein sector. For example, traditional fermentation can help optimize the digestibility, taste, texture and nutrients of the ingredients for plant-based meat, eggs and dairy. Ingredients made with biomass fermentation or precision fermentation can also be combined with plant-based ingredients to make better plant-based meat.
On the cultivated meat side, precision fermentation can help produce nutrients and growth factors for cell culture media. And, proteins such as collagen or fibronectin produced through fermentation may serve as key animal-free components of scaffolding for more complex cultivated meat products.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FERMENTATION?
Like plant-based and cultivated meat, fermentation-derived protein offers benefits for people, animals and the planet. For example, mycelium, microalgae, microbes and fermented plant proteins can provide the sensory experiences and nutrition of animal products without the cholesterol, antibiotics and hormones.
The microorganisms used in fermentation also reproduce and grow very quickly — in hours rather than weeks or months or even years for animals. Also, many of these organisms are extremely high in protein and, when facilities are scaled up, biomass fermentation can produce many tons of biomass every hour.
This efficient protein production is also much more sustainable. It releases far fewer pollutants and GHGs, as well as saving water and land compared with livestock food production.
THE GROWING FERMENTATION MARKET SECTOR
As the report points out, hundreds of companies are already using fermentation to make ingredients and materials, and many are now diversifying into the alternative protein sector. There are also dozens of startups focused primarily on using fermentation for alternative proteins and the industry is attracting funding from investors, food companies and governments.
If the past few years are any indication, fermentation looks ready to become a key component in driving the global shift towards alternative proteins. Its versatility and untapped potential as a source of primary protein-rich biomass, and its ability to produce a wide range of popular ingredients can power the next generation of alternative protein products to even greater acceptance, availability and success.