Smart proteins as a new paradigm for meeting dietary protein sufficiency of India: a critical review on the safety and sustainability of different protein sources

India, a global leader in agriculture, faces sustainability challenges in feeding its population. Although primarily a vegetarian population, the consumption of animal derived proteins has tremendously increased in recent years. Excessive dependency on animal proteins is not environmentally sustainable, necessitating the identification of alternative smart proteins. Smart proteins are environmentally benign and mimic the properties of animal proteins (dairy, egg and meat) and are derived from plant proteins, microbial fermentation, insects and cell culture meat (CCM) processes. This review critically evaluates the technological, safety, and sustainability challenges involved in production of smart proteins and their consumer acceptance from Indian context. Under current circumstances, plant-based proteins are most favorable; however, limited land availability and impending climate change makes them unsustainable in the long run. CCM is unaffordable with high input costs limiting its commercialization in near future. Microbial-derived proteins could be the most sustainable option for future owing to higher productivity and ability to grow on low-cost substrates. A circular economy approach integrating agri-horti waste valorization and C1 substrate synthesis with microbial biomass production offer economic viability. Considering the use of novel additives and processing techniques, evaluation of safety, allergenicity, and bioavailability of smart protein products is necessary before large-scale adoption.

A comprehensive report on valorization of waste to single cell protein: strategies, challenges, and future prospects

The food insecurity due to a vertical increase in the global population urgently demands substantial advancements in the agricultural sector and to identify sustainable affordable sources of nutrition, particularly proteins. Single-cell protein (SCP) has been revealed as the dried biomass of microorganisms such as algae, yeast, and bacteria cultivated in a controlled environment. Production of SCP is a promising alternative to conventional protein sources like soy and meat, due to quicker production, minimal land requirement, and flexibility to various climatic conditions. In addition to protein production, it also contributes to waste management by converting it into food and feed for both human and animal consumption. This article provides an overview of SCP production, including its benefits, safety, acceptability, and cost, as well as limitations that constrains its maximum use. Furthermore, this review criticizes the downstream processing of SCP, encompassing cell wall disruption, removal of nucleic acid, harvesting of biomass, drying, packaging, storage, and transportation. The potential applications of SCP, such as in food and feed as well as in the production of bioplastics, emulsifiers, and as flavoring agents for baked food, soup, and salad, are also discussed.

Investigating the Water Relations in Aqueous Extract Powders of Mango (Mangifera indica) Peel and Seed Waste for Their Use in Food Matrices as a Value-Added By-Product

This study investigated the potential uses of discarded mango peel and seed parts by analyzing their water sorption behavior, hydration kinetics, and stability when converted into extract powders at pH 3 and 10. The results revealed that peel extracts had a higher water adsorption capacity compared with seed extracts due to differences in their composition. Peel extracts were primarily composed of carbohydrates (approximately 75%) with a low protein content, while seed extracts contained fewer carbohydrates (less than 30%) but higher levels of proteins (more than 30%) and lipids. The critical water content for maintaining the glassy state of peel extract powders during storage was found to be 0.025 and 0.032 g of water/g for extracts obtained at pH 3 and 10, respectively. In contrast, the Tg values of seed extracts remained relatively unchanged across different water content levels, suggesting that proteins and lipids inhibited the water's plasticizing effect in the solid matrix. These findings indicate that both mango waste fractions exhibit distinct hygroscopic behaviors, necessitating different approaches to processing and utilization. These extracts hold potential applications for various food products such as beverages, gels, sauces, or emulsions, contributing to the reduction in waste and the creation of value-added products from mango residues.

Coproduction of single cell protein and lipid from lignocellulose derived carbohydrates and inorganic ammonia salt with soluble ammonia recycling

Co-production of single cell protein (SCP) and lipid from lignocellulose-derived carbohydrates and inorganic ammonia offers a promising alternative for poultry or aquaculture feeds. An engineered oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum MP11 showed great potential for producing SCP and lipid from wheat straw and ammonia sulfate with minimum nutrient input. Trichosporon cutaneum MP11 showed stronger SCP and lipid fermentability using dry acid pretreated and biodetoxified wheat straw than using pure sugars. The residual ammonium sulfate in fermentation broth was recycled up to five times, resulting in ∼70% of nitrogen fixation into SCP. The overall yield of SCP and lipid from lignocellulose-derived sugars was 0.15 g/g and 0.11 g/g, respectively. This translates to the production of one ton of SCP (0.56 ton) and lipid (0.44 ton) from 6.6 tons of wheat straw, or one ton of SCP and lipid containing yeast cells (dry) from 4.8 tons of wheat straw.

Single-Cell Proteins Obtained by Circular Economy Intended as a Feed Ingredient in Aquaculture

The constant increment in the world’s population leads to a parallel increase in the demand for food. This situation gives place the need for urgent development of alternative and sustainable resources to satisfy this nutritional requirement. Human nutrition is currently based on fisheries, which accounts for 50% of the fish production for human consumption, but also on agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture. Among them, aquaculture has been pointed out as a promising source of animal protein that can provide the population with high-quality protein food. This productive model has also gained attention due to its fast development. However, several aquaculture species require considerable amounts of fish protein to reach optimal growth rates, which represents its main drawback. Aquaculture needs to become sustainable using renewable source of nutrients with high contents of proteins to ensure properly fed animals. To achieve this goal, different approaches have been considered. In this sense, single-cell protein (SCP) products are a promising solution to replace fish protein from fishmeal. SCP flours based on microbes or algae biomass can be sustainably obtained. These microorganisms can be cultured by using residues supplied by other industries such as agriculture, food, or urban areas. Hence, the application of SCP for developing innovative fish meal offers a double solution by reducing the management of residues and by providing a sustainable source of proteins to aquaculture. However, the use of SCP as aquaculture feed also has some limitations, such as problems of digestibility, presence of toxins, or difficulty to scale-up the production process. In this work, we review the potential sources of SCP, their respective production processes, and their implementation in circular economy strategies, through the revalorization and exploitation of different residues for aquaculture feeding purposes. The data analyzed show the positive effects of SCP inclusion in diets and point to SCP meals as a sustainable feed system. However, new processes need to be exploited to improve yield. In that direction, the circular economy is a potential alternative to produce SCP at any time of the year and from various cost-free substrates, almost without a negative impact.