Peas take aim at emerging meat substitute market

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1 Research Enhances Consumers and Producers Spring Newsletter Issue #33 writer Kieran Brett Inside: - Research Builds Knowledge On Clubroot In Canola. page 3 - Research Brings New Thinking To Dry Bean Production. page 4 - Study Sees High-value Uses For Barley Protein page 5 - Get The Phone, It s Sclerotinia. page 7 Peas take aim at emerging meat substitute market Soybeans currently dominate the market for food products that replace meat with plant protein. With support from ACIDF, Xiangfeng Meng, is showing that protein from Alberta-grown peas is a viable competitor. substitutes, also called meat analogs, are made with soybean protein. By some estimates, the North American meat substitute market could approach $4.6 billion by This opportunity led Xiangfeng Meng, pictured below, to ask: why should soybean growers have it all to themselves? These days, many people are interested in eating less meat. Whether their motivation is nutritional, environmental or philosophical, these consumers have helped create a booming market for meat substitute products. Think of all the veggie burgers, meat-free cold cuts and vegan meals now available at your local supermarket, and many restaurants too. Most of these meat Photos courtesy of Meng Xiangfeng The idea is to have a meat alternative other than soya protein, says Xiangfeng, Research Scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development s Food Science and Technology Centre in Brooks. Most meat analogs made with soya also have gluten, which is an allergen for many people, so that is another opportunity.

2 Different ingredients, variable processes Since 2012, with funding from the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, Alberta Innovates-Bio Solutions, Alberta Pulse Growers Commission and Daiya Foods, Xiangfeng, and her team have been pioneering methods to make a meat substitute from pea protein using a highmoisture extrusion technology. How do you make a meat analog that looks, feels and tastes like the real thing? If you re talking about soy protein, the process is wellestablished, but also proprietary and closely guarded by manufacturers. For Xiangfeng, doing the same with pea protein, pictured left, meant starting from scratch. For the past two years, she s developed and tested many combinations of dry ingredients (with pea protein isolate accounting for at least 50%), plus various amounts of added water, with many mechanical variations and processing speeds. The temperature of the barrel, or thermal energy input, is very important, she says. An extruder is normally built for frictional heat, but under a high-moisture condition in the extruder, there s not much mechanical energy generated. Xiangfeng s first priority was to develop a viable recipe and process for a glutencontaining meat analog. She accomplished that, and now has a method that can be showcased to food manufacturers. The gluten-free version? That s going to take a little longer. Absent the wheat gluten that s a key ingredient in the first recipe, the heat dynamics have been different, and it s been trickier to get the barrel temperature right. Processors come knocking Over the next 18 months, Xiangfeng will continue this work on two levels. First, she ll further refine the gluten-containing meat analog by building in different flavour profiles. Second, she ll continue to test new ideas for the gluten-free meat analog. Once they re ready to taste, both product streams will be subject to a sensory panel of people who ll evaluate them for appearance, flavour and texture. The goal, of course, isn t just scientific advancement but real-world product development that benefits growers. Manufacturers, meanwhile, have been quick to see the potential in Xiangfeng s work on a meat analog made from pea protein. They want in. We re already working with a B.C. company that wants to commercialize, she says, and another company from Ontario that wants to make a meat analog for pets. We ll try to do something with these companies in Jenn Walker, Research Officer with the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission, notes that the organization s core mandate is to increase the sale of pulses for the benefit of the province s growers. In her view, Xiangfeng Meng s work with pulse protein fits the bill. APGC is keenly interested in new processing techniques and the utilization of pulses, both whole and fractions. This project focuses on a novel use that will help to sell more pulses, Walker says. Domestic consumption of pulses is relatively low compared to other countries and partnering in the development of a meat analog affords a unique opportunity. 2 A CIDF

3 Research Builds Knowledge On Clubroot In Canola Over the past four years, with support from ACIDF, a team of scientists has developed a more complete understanding of how the disease works and how best to control it. This will help canola growers stay a step ahead of clubroot. He couldn t have known it back then, but Stephen Strelkov picked an ideal time and place to work as a plant pathologist. As Strelkov unpacked his bags at the University of Alberta in the fall of 2003, the first cases of clubroot in canola were being reported. He s been working to mitigate the impact of this disease ever since. It really caused a lot of concern at the time, says Strelkov. Other diseases come and go according to environmental conditions, but with clubroot, the spores are very long-lived. It s difficult to get rid of them, and at that point, there were few if any tools available to manage the disease in canola. With a focused research and development effort, growers gradually gained the upper hand on clubroot. A milestone occurred in 2010, when the first clubroot-resistant canola varieties were registered. While resistant varieties have helped, it s only a matter of time before the pathogen finds its way around this genetic armor. The resistance trait may keep one strain of clubroot in check, but other strains will eventually emerge. Each year you grow a resistant variety, says Strelkov, you are selecting for new strains of the pathogen. That s why we need to have other resistance to fall back on. We need to be proactive and develop some other tools for the toolbox. Since 2010, Strelkov has led an ACIDFfunded project to extend the base of knowledge around clubroot in canola, on several fronts. Throughout, he s worked closely with University of Alberta canola breeder Habibur Rahman and Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development pathologist Sheau-Fang Hwang, two other veterans of the clubroot campaign. The genetic basis for clubroot resistance. Even though clubroot-resistant varieties are available, more information is needed on how resistance actually works. To advance this knowledge, the team developed canola lines and screened these for clubroot resistance. They then observed how many lines were resistant and susceptible to clubroot in each generation. Based on the number of new plants that are resistant or susceptible, says Strelkov, you can determine whether resistance is controlled by one gene or more than one gene. We found that a single gene controls resistance in the lines we examined. The molecular basis for clubroot resistance. Why does a strain of clubroot attack one type of canola, but not another? To help answer this question, the team conducted a molecular analysis of resistance. This opened up new ideas around clubroot, such as how the pathogen overcomes resistance in the host plant and a way to genetically transform the pathogen itself. 3 A CIDF

4 Develop molecular markers. To make clubroot resistance durable, it may be important to have more than one resistance gene in a canola plant. Another element of this project was to screen different markers linked to clubroot resistance, to determine their unique place on the canola (B. napus) genome. This makes it easier to select different resistance genes when making breeding lines for new canola varieties. This is very helpful for resistance breeding activities, says Strelkov, because you don t need to grow-out the plants to know which plants have the resistance gene. When clubroot first appeared a decade ago, canola growers were more or less defenseless. Today, the canola industry s clubroot defense is on far more solid ground. We have a better understanding of the biology of the pathogen, says Strelkov, as well as its interaction with the host and the resistance of the host to the pathogen. The support of organizations like ACIDF has been very important to this progress. Canola growers seek more agronomic options Ward Toma, General Manager of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, saw both positive news and challenges regarding clubroot in the 2014 Alberta canola crop. The disease made an impact in areas where it s been seen over the past decade. Most worrying, to Ward, is that there may be signs of resistance breaking down in currently registered clubroot-resistant varieties. All the more reason, in his view, to keep up the pressure on this devastating disease. We need as many and as varied resistance pathways as we can get, he says, to increase the number of management strategies that are available. Research Brings New Thinking To Dry Bean Production The crop is a staple for many growers in southern Alberta. Funded by ACIDF, Doon Pauly takes a fresh look at issues like row spacing, fertility and the use of inoculants. Bean undercutting. Photos courtesy of Doon Pauly. For many farmers in southern Alberta, dry beans are a profitable component of a crop rotation. Others will move in and out of beans based on the price, swinging provincial acres from highs of 50,000 acres one year, down to 35,000 acres the next. What would it take to move dry bean production in Alberta to a higher level? Consistently higher yields would help producers in terms of revenue, and processors in terms of steadier supply. 4 A CIDF

5 Doon Pauly, Lethbridge-based Agronomy Research Scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, explains that some agronomic practices for dry bean grew up in the shadow of more economically important crops in the area. Dry bean tends to be grown in relatively wide, 55-cm rows in southern Alberta, says Pauly. This wide row spacing also works with other row crops, like sugar beets. Wide row spacings also allow for inter-row tillage before the crop is established and before it get too heavy. It s also thought to promote air movement through the canopy that has implications for white mould. With funding support from the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, Pauly is the lead researcher on a major project that s challenging agronomic assumptions about how dry beans can be grown. This could lead to new or improved agronomic practices that give growers more ways to be successful with dry bean. Here s a summary of Pauly s findings in three key areas. Narrower row spacing may yield more. Pauly compared the yields of dry bean planted at spacings of 70 cm, 35 cm and 17.5 cm, under various seeding rates. The industry standard seeding rate for rowcropped dry bean has long been 25 seeds per square metre. Pauly achieved the project s highest yields with either 35 cm or 17.5 cm spacing and 40 to 55 seeds per square metre. Crop quality was found to be comparable across all spacings and seeding rates. The yield was 11% higher with the narrower rows, and that tells me that solidseeded dry bean production could be viable in southern Alberta, says Pauly. There s a belief out there that narrower rows could be more conducive to white mould, but overall, our results did not support this perception. However, it must be noted that white mould problems in southern Alberta were minor in two of the four years of this study. Dry bean needs added nitrogen. For the past two decades or more, dry bean growers have added nitrogen fertilizer and increased their yield and profitability by doing so. Pauly wanted to know whether narrower row spacing and higher seeding rates would necessitate an adjustment in fertilizer practices. Pauly found that fertilizer rates in this study aligned very well with past fertility work on row-cropped beans. His conclusion is that fertility practices for row-cropped and solid-seeded beans should be the same. Field pea fixes up to 90% of its nitrogen, says Pauly. Beans are much more reliant on soil or fertilizer N than peas to achieve high yield. For optimal production, dry beans need soil test N to 30 cm plus fertilizer N to total about 100 kg N/ha. Some of our results also indicate that the timing of when N is available to the crop can influence yield. We need more work done on timing, however. The timing of when to apply fertilizer to beans hasn t been explored under southern Alberta conditions. Inoculants can play a part. Even though Pauly did not select sites that were likely to respond to inoculation, he found that yields of inoculated beans were 4% higher than non-inoculated beans, regardless of the rate of applied nitrogen fertilizer. That might not sound like much, Pauly says, but to grow 150 lb. per acre more 5 A CIDF

6 beans at 35 cents per pound, with a relatively small cost for inoculant, is a really good return on investment. Jenn Walker, Research Officer with the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission, believes this project holds considerable potential to increase production. As such, Pauly s agronomy work with dry beans is in line with APGC s mission to boost sales. Production of dry beans is an art and science whereby precision in management is rewarded, says Walker. Continuous evaluation of current management practices ensures that Alberta producers remain sustainable in their production and economics. Assessment of fertility practices is a large piece of this puzzle. Study Sees High-value Uses For Barley Protein A two-year project, funded by ACIDF, provides the first-ever proof of concept for three promising health and personal care applications. In recent years, barley has contributed up to $300 million annually to farmgate revenue in Alberta. That s impressive, but the province s barley growers see growth on the horizon. How? More acres of crop, more cattle in feedlots and more malt would all help. Today, however, there s an emerging category of non-traditional uses that could add significant value to Alberta barley. Lingyun Chen, pictured below, of the University of Alberta believes that bioactive peptides exist in barley protein that present a promising area for research and development of natural healthy ingredients. These include antioxidant, antimicrobial, cholesterol-lowering and mineral delivery agents. Previously, Chen used a process called enzymatic hydrolysis to access the structure of peptides associated with barley protein. Once we can access the structure of the peptides, it s relatively easy to isolate and modify them to have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, says Chen, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Plant Protein, Structure Function and Nutraceutical Delivery. This process, she surmised, could open up a range of new, value-added uses. Over the past two years, with support from the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, Chen has successfully performed proof of concept work for three new applications for barley protein. 1. Anti-microbial functionality. Hand soaps and creams that fight germs on the skin have become a multi-billion-dollar product category. Chen tested the effectiveness of modified barley peptides at inhibiting the growth of different bacteria. According to our data, they can prevent bad bacteria but would be safe for people to use, says Chen. 2. Cholesterol-lowering functionality. Chen showed that barley protein has the ability to bind onto cholesterol so that 6 A CIDF

7 cholesterol can exit the body. The health implications, pending further work, are potentially massive. If you eat barley protein, says Chen, you can lower your cholesterol. 3. Metal-binding functionality. People need metals like iron, copper, selenium and zinc in their diet. Supplements for women who are iron-deficient are widely available. Foods for infants may have iron added for nutritional reasons. The third aspect of Chen s work was a proof of concept that barley protein could make this process far more efficient. With the barley peptides used, iron can be much better absorbed by the body, she says. In baby cereal, for example, the industry could add less minerals but have better absorption. Chen is quick to point out that, while all three applications now have a proof of concept in place, much more needs to be done. She ll continue working on the processes involved. Meanwhile, the food processing and personal care industries may be keenly interested in work done thus far, and what comes next. We have some very interesting data, says Chen. The next step is business development. We look forward to engaging with and collaborating with industry. This project may lead to many potential applications for barley protein. Barley growers see opportunity Garson Law, Research Manager with Alberta Barley Commission, explains that Chen s work with barley protein fits nicely with the organization s research priorities. A project like this is very unique in looking at non-traditional uses for barley, not simply its classic uses as food, feed or malt, says Law. Anything that has potential market value is of interest to us. Public interest in barley in any form keeps it top of mind and reminds us all of the importance of Alberta s barley industry to Canada. At this point, he notes, it s difficult to know what that value will ultimately be. It could provide a micro-niche opportunity for a few farmers. If it goes to market and catches on globally, however, barley protein could contribute meaningfully to Alberta farmers profitability. Law also likes that fact that this idea addresses society s growing need for health solutions. This is a new and emerging technology, with barley as a delivery vehicle for cholesterol-lowering or metal-binding, he says. Of course, with barley being a natural product, the technology has a lot going for it. Get The Phone, It s Sclerotinia With funding support from ACIDF, Xiujie (Susie) Li, a researcher for BioResources Technology, has shown that in-field sensors could monitor a field for disease, and notify the farmer if it s becoming a problem. Hands up if scouting a canola field for disease is your idea of a pleasant summer afternoon. Didn't think so. Fact is, the way fields are scouted for signs of disease may be one of the biggest issues in canola production. 7 A CIDF

8 Take the example of sclerotinia. This longtime disease problem can cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost yield. If you scout for sclerotinia too early, it's hard to detect the disease. If you scout too late, it may be too late to manage it. Spotting the disease and its degree of infection also takes training and experience that many people just don t have. Now, what if sclerotinia could be detected automatically by an in-field sensor, with a text sent to your cell phone the moment the economic threshold for spraying is reached? That would be valuable, and thanks to a visionary scientist, it s also quite possible. Under a two-year project funded by ACIDF, Xiujie (Susie) Li, pictured left, has completed ground-breaking conceptual work that could one day make this high-tech agronomic dream a reality. Antibodies attract disease, trigger notification We greatly appreciate ACIDF, ACPC and AITF for the support of the development of this technology. If we can put something in the field that tells you how many sclerotinia spores are present, that would solve a big problem for farmers, says Li, BioResources Technology Researcher with Alberta Innovates Technology Futures. As Li explains it, the concept involves a number of different technologies. To demonstrate the concept, she first produced sclerotinia spores in the lab. Second, she engaged an Ontario company to produce sclerotinia antibody; that is, a protein that can identify a target antigen, in this case sclerotinia. Third, the antibody was placed with a nano-particle of metal on a nanosensor. If you have sclerotinia antibody, you find sclerotinia, says Li, because the spores attach to the antibody. When this happens, the degree of conductivity that occurs will reflect the volume of sclerotinia spores. The more sclerotinia there is in a monitored field, the greater the conductivity and the stronger the signal it sends. That s when the farmer s phone gets the message. On the other hand, if spores are below an economically significant level, the farmer isn t notified. Either way, Li s concept could one day make conventional visual field scouting unnecessary. Li has shown that even low levels of sclerotinia as few as five spores can be detected in this way. She notes that the next step is to test this concept under field conditions. She d like to know how big an area one sensor could cover, and thus, how many might be needed in a commercial-scale canola field. Beyond sclerotinia, Li believes the same idea could work for blackleg. Ward Toma, General Manager of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, believes this concept could ultimately help growers with time-critical disease management decisions. With a lot of diseases, infection happens within a very short timeframe, he says. You may only have a three-day window to decide whether to apply a fungicide. At that moment, what matters isn t what s happening in the field right now; it's what could happen in the next three days. The more information we have about the presence and the number of spores, the better it will be for management of the disease. Photos courtesy of Xiujie (Susie) Li 8 A CIDF

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