Towards Sustainable Production of Protein-Rich Foods: Appraisal of Eight Crops for Western Europe. Part II: Analysis of the Technological Aspects of the Production Chain

Increased production of plant protein is required to support the production of protein-rich foods which can replace meat in the human diet to reduce the strain that intensive animal husbandry poses on the environment. The suitability of lupin (Lupinus spp.), pea (Pisum sativum), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), triticale (x Triticosecale), lucerne (Medicago sativa), grasses (Lolium and Festuca spp.), rapeseed/canola (Brassica napus) and potato (Solanum tuberosum) for protein production in Western Europe was studied on the basis of a chain-approach. The technological aspects, which are considered in this paper, are the processing methods, and the functional and nutritional properties of the derived protein products. The overall evaluation of the technological prospects of the eight crops as a protein source for Western Europe leads to the conclusion that this part of the production chain is not decisive for that choice. Pea and lupin have a slight advantage over the other crops, because their concentrates and isolates are already commercially available.