Fraunhofer Venture
Highly functional sunflower proteins
Proteins have a wealth of functions inside the human body. They are essential to growth and general wellbeing, for example. Most proteins are absorbed through diet. In light of growing public awareness of a healthy lifestyle, more and more consumers are actively seeking out foods with high protein content, especially plant-based ones. At the same time, aspects such as taste, structure, texture, and appearance need to be formulated to be as appealing as possible.
Vegan protein products derived from sunflowers are increasingly popular both in the food industry and with consumers. So far, however, the crop has been processed almost exclusively to produce cooking oil, with only about 40% of seeds being used as food. The rest, known as “press cake,” is a rich source of fiber and proteins, but has been used merely for animal feed or simply disposed of.
An innovative method developed and patented at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV extracts the protein from the press cake and ensures that the entire sunflower seed is used. The seeds are processed at low temperatures to prevent damage to the valuable proteins.
Sunbloom Proteins GmbH relies on this process to produce highly functional protein meals, isolates, and cold-pressed oil from sunflower seeds. This ecofriendly alternative to animal-based protein sources offers a range of positive properties for various uses, especially in meat and dairy substitutes.
