TUMCREATE Leads Research to Secure Sustainable Proteins Supply through Novel Reverse Food Engineering and Additive Manufacturing

- The Proteins4Singapore research programme harnesses world-class expertise in material science, process engineering and food chemistry by renowned academic and research institutions to propel forward a new generation of proteins that is nutritious and palatable. - With the world's population tipped to exceed 9.2 billion in 2050, there is an urgent need to provide food for the growing population amid ongoing urbanisation and depletion of the agricultural space 28.04.2022

 

• The Proteins4Singapore research programme harnesses world-class expertise in material science, process engineering and food chemistry by renowned academic and research institutions to propel forward a new generation of proteins that is nutritious and palatable.
• With the world's population tipped to exceed 9.2 billion in 2050, there is an urgent need to provide food for the growing population amid ongoing urbanisation and depletion of the agricultural space.
• Proteins4Singapore will catalyse the scientific understanding of the relationship between proteins and their structural function and discover more about their aroma, taste, and texture interactions.
• The completion of the research will offer promising solutions to address one of the world's most urgent challenges.
• Technologies emerging from this research will also offer new business opportunities in Singapore while strengthening the food supply in Singapore.

Thursday, 28 April 2022 - TUMCREATE, a multidisciplinary research platform of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) at the Singapore campus, will lead the scientific research programme, Proteins4Singapore, to explore and secure sustainable sources of protein supply for food production in Singapore. This will potentially open new doors for commercialisation opportunities using novel reverse food engineering and additive manufacturing approaches. Harnessing world-class expertise in material science, process engineering and food chemistry from leading academic and research institutions - TUM, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) – the research programme propels forward a new generation of proteins that is nutritious and palatable.

Funded by National Research Foundation, the research explores cutting-edge sustainable methods to derive protein sources from conventional side streams and revolutionise the way food is produced traditionally by creating food of highly defined textural, sensory and nutritional qualities. The first phase of its research will begin by employing vertical soybean and micro-algae farming to obtain a perfectly suited protein quality mix.

Launched today at CREATE tower, the Proteins4Singapore Kick-Off event saw 50 scientists of interdisciplinary research facilities convening in a series of networking and dialogue sessions to share their latest research findings and to foster closer collaborations in food research. 

Keeping pace with rising global population

With the world's population tipped to exceed 9.2 billion in 2050,[1] there is an urgent need to provide food to the growing population amid mounting challenges such as climate crisis, ongoing urbanisation, depletion of the agricultural landscape, unexpected and disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic

Singapore, with only one per cent of the land available for food production, relies heavily on global supply chains for food. In 2020, the nation only produces 10 per cent of its food locally while importing 90 per cent of local food consumption from 170 countries[2] The inherent vulnerability of its food supply chain and the volatilities the food supply chain is subjected to have consequently urged the nation to push forward with its "30 by 30" plan of producing 30 per cent of Singapore's nutritional needs by 2030.[3]

Bridging food security gap amid challenges

Against this backdrop, Proteins4Singapore will catalyse the scientific understanding of the relationship between proteins and their structural function and discover more about their aroma, taste and texture interactions. The completion of the research offers promising solutions to address one of the world's most complex challenges. In addition, the technologies emerging from this research will also provide new business opportunities in Singapore while strengthening its food supply. The United Nations projected that by 2030, there will be 43 megacities exceeding 10 million people, while 68 per cent of the 10 billion global population will live in urban areas.[4] Thus, the unique position that Singapore is in will serve as a blueprint for globally relevant scenarios to supply nutritious food to a densely populated but land-limited urban population.

TUMCREATE's CEO, Professor Ulf Schlichtmann said, "The Proteins4Singapore research programme holds great potential in unlocking clues and accelerating our understanding towards the formation and interactions of proteins while offering life-changing technologies to secure a sustainable protein supply, which will make a difference for people in Singapore and other megacities. The deep collaboration fostered between the institutions straddling world-class expertise across a range of disciplines that TUMCREATE spearheads will pave the way towards a robust scientific research ecosystem essential to generate scientific breakthroughs to confront future challenges."  

Facilitating a new generation of proteins

At its core, the research will combine alternative protein sources, like micro-algae, protein-rich crops, or side-streams from aquaculture, on indoor farming concepts independent from arable land and climate change. These new protein sources will be integrated into innovative processing methods to facilitate a new generation of proteins. One of them is the use of novel reverse food engineering. This technique breaks down and separates food products into individual components to produce food with pleasant textures and improved sensory impressions - a critical step in creating nutritious and high-quality food products that has yet to be commercialised in the market.

Another is the use of integrative and innovative extrusion systems in combination with 3D printing techniques to lead to large-scale, as well as decentralised production capabilities for plant protein-based foods with highly controlled and defined sensory perception functions. The formation of realistic textures similar to conventionally textured food will greatly improve consumer perception of such novel food products. Drawing expertise from different disciplines in material science, process engineering and food chemistry, the research will focus on establishing links between protein functionality, proteins’ interactions with other ingredients, sensory qualities, and the inherent processing methods using fundamental and application-based analytic techniques.

About TUMCREATE:

Founded in 2010, TUMCREATE is a multidisciplinary research platform funded by the National Research Foundation to foster bilateral research exchanges between Technical University of Munich (TUM) and relevant partners in Singapore. TUMCREATE collaborates with partner universities, public agencies, and industry for the advancement of future technologies in the fields of electromobility, smart cities, medical technology, and now – food science. Over the last years, the researchers of TUMCREATE have contributed to nearly 700 publications with their results.

Website: https://www.tum-create.edu.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TUMCREATE

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tum-create-limited

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For further information, please contact:

Peifen Chia

Senior Executive, Office of Admissions and Marketing Communication

DID: 6777 7407 ext. 116

Mobile: 9450 7787

Email: peifen.chia@tum-asia.edu.sg

 

[1] https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/expert_paper/How_to_Feed_the_World_in_2050.pdf

[2] https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/singapores-30-30-food-production-target-it-feasible

[3] https://www.ourfoodfuture.gov.sg/30by30

[4] https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html#:~:text=By%202030%2C%20the%20world%20is,located%20in%20Asia%20and%20Africa.