Revolutionary technology from Singapore has extracted protein from beer-brewing leftovers.
Singapore’s Food Science and Technology program (FST), led by Professor William Chen has successfully extracted 80 percent of the protein from brewers’ spent grain (BSG).
The extraction of protein can help reduce waste and enrich plant-based foods and bakery foaming and gelling applications.
BSG is the largest byproduct of the beer brewing industry, contributing to 85 percent of the total waste. Over 36.4 million tons of grain are produced yearly and are discarded after its primary use of brewing beer.
The technology called microwave-assisted three-phased partitioning (MATPP) provides a new opportunity to recycle the once-discarded BSG.
MATPP is an emerging non-chromatographic bioseparation technique capable of simultaneously extracting and separating BSG protein. BSG undergoes fungal fermentation to increase the solubility of its protein fractions before being subjected to MATPP for protein extraction.
FST’s initial motive was to develop technology platforms to upcycle food processing side streams that are usually channelled to animal farms or end up in landfills.
After extracting up to 200 grams of protein from one kilogram of BSG, researchers indicated it as a potential protein source. They have also found that the recovered BSG protein is easy to absorb and digest due to how it has been reduced in size due to fermentation.
These proteins can enhance the nutritional quality of plant-based protein foods, which tend to have lower protein levels and lower protein quality.
Due to fishing concerns about the greenhouse gasses caused by animal protein consumption, BSG protein could be a solid alternative that targets food waste and food shortage.
The method has a quick turnaround time, with protein extracted in less than an hour.
Scientists at Singapore FST believe this innovation has a significant potential for industrial-scale utilisation due to its cost reduction potential, recyclable chemicals, efficiency and easy scalability.
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