Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Bean protein is a cost effective and environmentally conservative protein resource that has economic advantages over more expensive meat and dairy-based proteins which are most commonly used to meet the worlds nutritional demand. According to the report by Pathfinders Research and Development Inc. (2011) the global protein market is expected to reach $24.5 billion with the greatest annual growth occurring in the plant protein ingredient sector.Beans are primarily consumed as a baked or canned beans but there is a growing interest in its utilization as a protein ingredient. The conventional techniques for bean protein production involve the use of solvents, concentrated acids and alkali which results in protein denaturation and solubility loss. These processes also generate large volumes of environmentally hazardous wastes. The fast-growing market demand for food products with high nutritional qualities requires innovative and sustainable technologies. The overall objective of this project is to develop an environmentally clean and economically feasible solvent-free separation process for use in the extraction of functional proteins from bean flour. The proposed dry process pioneered by Advanced CERT Canada preserves the bio-functionality of the ingredients and averts toxic microbial contamination which is common in wet processes. It produces protein-rich flour from beans without consuming solvents and chemicals resulting in reduced capital and operating costs. It also significantly reduces the waste and associated hazardous risks and treatment costs.