16.12.2021
Is pea protein competitor to other plant proteins?! Well, this point of view would be unreal several years ago! But, now it is! The demand for vegetable proteins in food production is actually growing very quickly. According to forecasts, in the near future it will grow by 7 - 10 % per year on a globally. Including pea protein which can grow by 12,9 % till 2024.
Let's look at some data in the beginning. These figures show dynamics of demand and productivity growth. In 1990 a new protein ingredients became in the market. By the way, pea and rice proteins are in special demand on the mass market. According to experts from Mordor Intelligence (the largest research company), in 2015 the global market for plant proteins was $ 7.67 billion. In 2020 it reached $ 10.12 billion. In 2021 only peas protein reached $ 1.25 billion of volume protein market.
What does pea protein mean? Why does its popular grow around the world?
Pea grain is a source of high quality protein, functional pea fiber and pea starch. It's very important for muscles growth because the proteins are the second basic muscle fiber structure component.
Pea protein is concentrated pea protein mix. It often used for sport food and on a diet. Producers make taste of it more closed to meat. Thus, meat substitution trend will grow every year. Pea protein is especially in demand in premium products for consumers who are actively looking for «Clean Label» products.
Like all proteins of legumes, pea protein also consists of three protein classes: globulins, albumin, insoluble protein. Clean pea protein (isolate) has high content of valuable amino acids, glutamic acid, arginine, and lysine. Besides, pea protein has a lot of tryptophan and iron.
Why can't we just use legumes flour? The flour usually contains 15 - 25 % protein only. The flour also has some drawbacks, for example, low digestibility, risk of digestive discomfort, pronounced bean taste and smell. However, concentrates and clean pea proteins have the most proteins (65 - 70 % of it in concentrate and 80 % of it in isolates). These natural isolates can improve the organoleptic characteristics of products, their color, etc. Pea protein, which used for sport food, is high cleaned isolate with a protein content of 84 - 88 %. It has a high digestibility equal to 98 %.
Pea protein is perfect product when combined with other plant-based ingredients such as oat protein. Such variant is the best for balanced diet.
Production
Demand is growing rapidly, new production facilities are opening. Top countries in terms of bringing pea protein to the market are USA, Canada, UK, Belgium, France, Austria and, of course, China. Some industrial enterprises were re-designed as pea protein processing lines. Nowadays, the production of pea and rice protein is more than 38 thousand t/year.
The level of demand, availability of raw materials and very high economic indicators of the production of protein concentrate and isolate over the past year have caused significant interest among Ukrainian companies. Producers of pea protein get their raw from the yellow pea.
Cleaning is based on a fermentation process that produces a high purity protein without the use of any chemicals. The main stages of isolate producing:
- Cleaning and hulling of yellow pea with maximum extraction of peas;
- Grinding of yellow pea seeds to be a flour;
- Wetting of grinded pea (mixing it with water);
- Separation of protein from starch and fiber in drums due to centrifugal force, followed by drying.
Our company «AGRO-SIMO-MASHBUD» provides three stages of pea protein producing. Due to the use of modern equipment, the maximum output of pea flour is ensured with an adjustable grinding size.
The production of pea protein isolate typically removes the phytic acid, which present in the seeds of legumes and cereals. Modern methods of protein extraction allow it to be produced without solvents and hexane, while maintaining the natural status of the ingredient.
Do you have any question? We will be glad to answer! You can get professional advice from our specialists.
