A groundbreaking project aimed at utilising unused broccoli to reduce the CO2 footprint and environmental harm of protein for human consumption is underway thanks to a partnership between the UK Agri-Tech Centre, Upcycled Plant Protein (UPP) and The James Hutton Institute (JHI).
The project, ‘SusProt: Sustainable Plant Protein from Vegetable Crop Sidestreams’, aims to solve two of the world’s food related challenges; where sustainable alternatives to animal derived protein will come from and addressing issues with farm labour and food security.
The automated broccoli harvester uses computer vision and machine learning to identify broccoli heads that are ready to be harvested. Then, instead of harvesting only the heads of the broccoli, the whole plant is cut by a patent-protected harvester. Parts of the plant that are currently unused are then turned into high-protein hypoallergenic ingredients for use in food products, which could include meat alternatives or ‘hybrid’ (reduced meat) products.
Mark Evans, CEO at Upcycled Plant Protein, said: “External validation of the nutritional composition and environmental harm reduction is extremely important in giving an early-stage company the credibility needed to work with the UK’s leading food manufacturers, and working with the UK Agri-Tech Centre and the JHI has been important in achieving this.”
The project also aims to enable farmers to overcome key challenges of harvest labour availability and offers the prospect of improved yields and better product quality using the Automated Selective Harvester. Images of the crop are captured during harvest allowing for more granular information to be collected, allowing insights that will improve productivity and profitability.
Using a proprietary process, the project has delivered pilot-scale production of sustainable, palatable protein from the ~70% of the broccoli plant that is currently not being used, along with biomass that is currently un-harvested.
