Smart Protein significantly increased the knowledge companies require to deliver the next generation of plant ingredients and food, laying the foundation for continuous innovation in food structure and sensorial properties. Keys legumes (fava bean, lentil and chickpea), protein crops (quinoa) and microbial protein sources (yeast/fungi) suitable for human consumption, with improved nutritional, structural and sensory profiles and sustainability footprints have been successfully used for design innovative plant foods such as bakery and sauce, dairy like (yoghurt, soft cheese), meat and fish analogues and follow-on infant food formula. These product formulations and the production processes protocols are now available to the SMART PROTEIN industrial partners for their subsequent industrialisation. This pre-commercialisation step has been further strengthened by the cost, environment and business assessment shortening, thus, their time to the market. Specifically, the optimised extrusion processes significantly improve the rheology and sensory properties of the plant-based extrudate. Industrial partners GoodMills is currently engaged in implementing suitable exploitation routes for such technology. Moreover, the implemented up-cycling strategies for different food side streams (pasta leftover, bread crust, brewery spent yeast) gave the opportunity to strengthen the circularity approach of the consortium’s partners besides offering a wider range of nutritional and fit-for-purpose ingredients. The social impact of the Smart Protein project can be highlighted as follows:
• Wider Variety: The project has developed a diverse range of plant-based meat and fish analogues, dairy alternatives, and infant formulas, offering consumers more choices and potentially catering to a wider range of dietary preferences and needs.
• Improved Sensory Experience: By focusing on improving taste, texture, aroma of plant-based products, the project made them more appealing to a broader consumer base, including those who may be hesitant to try plant-based alternatives due to perceived taste and sensory deficiencies.
• Enhanced Sustainability: The project emphasizes the use of sustainable protein sources like legumes, quinoa, and microbial proteins, encouraging consumers to make more environmentally conscious food choices.
• Boosting the European Plant-Based Food Industry: The project has contributed to the significant growth of the plant-based food market in Europe, creating new market opportunities for businesses and potentially leading to increased job creation within the food industry.
• Supporting Domestic Agriculture: The knowledge gained has strategically supported the domestic pulses production that is expected to reach 6.7 million t in 2032. At the same time the EU import of protein crops is projected to decline from an average of 1.3 million t in 2020-2022 to 0.1 million t in 2032, driven by domestic production and increasing world market prices.
• Facilitating Innovation: The development of new plant-based ingredients and technologies has driven innovation within the food industry, leading to the creation of new products, processes, and business models.
• Promoting Healthier Diets: Human consumption of pulses in the EU is expected to increase by 55 % between 2022 and 2032. This is due to the successful attraction of new consumer segments (15% early adopters and 60% mainstream consumers) through effective targeting, clear communication, strategic placement and sensory appeal and the nutritionally valuable food-like products the SMART PROTEIN project encourages to design.
• Reducing Environmental Impact: By promoting the use of plant-based proteins and implementing circular economy principles (upcycling food waste), the project defined the food processing strategies capable of reducing the environmental impact of food production,
• Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: The project supports the development of regenerative agricultural practices for protein crop production, minimizing environmental damage and promoting soil biodiversity and soil bioactivity.
• Informing Policy Development: The project's findings and recommendations have been incorporated into policy briefs and have influenced discussions on the upcoming EU Action Plan on Alternative Proteins, demonstrating the project's impact on shaping future policies related to plant-based foods.
