Product Concepts For Less Refined Ingredients (aka “Less is More”)

A new class of plant-based ingredients produced by a combination of an air milling, classification and electro-separation process has recently been developed and become available. The manufacture of these „less-refined“ ingredients represents a true paradigm shift in manufacture and use of sustainable food ingredients due to them not only requiring no solvent, and less water and energy but them also exhibiting new and highly interesting technofunctionalities (e.g. emulsification gelation etc.). The new manufacture process can be used to fractionate e.g. peas or lentils into a protein-rich fraction that may then be used in various food applications such as bakery, confectionery, dairy or beverages. The second (fiber-rich) fraction, which has also a lot of functionality especially with respect to potential health benefits, has however not yet systematically been used despite its promising properties. As such, the industrial challenge to be worked on by students is to develop new prototypes and food concepts that holistically use both of these "less-refined" fractions to develop new healthy food or beverage concepts that give consumers more choice while improving the sustainability of the food system. The proposed team exercise will provide students with the opportunity to work collaboratively with mentors in multidisciplinary teams, and coupled mobility actions will allow them to build an early professional network.