Functional and palatable plant seed storage proteins for sustainable foods

Most of the rapeseed grown in Europe is used for industrial oil production and animal feed. The SEEDFOOD project aims to change this by creating new fundamental knowledge, so the proteins instead can be applied in new food types for human consumption. The transition from animal- to plant-based food proteins needs to be accelerated in order to support sustainable food production and consumption in a world where the population continues to increase fast. Crude plant protein concentrates are challenged by high levels of antinutrients, poor palatability (bitterness and astringency), inadequate functionalities for complex food systems and hence insufficient quality for food usage.
SEEDFOOD aims to tailor plant seed protein with highly functional, palatable, and nutritional properties through novel protein design and in-depth understanding of molecular interactions in the food matrix. Protein functionality and protein modification are in focus along with novel processing technology, biophysics and machine learning.