The GreenImPro project aims to transform the production of protein ingredients for food, aquaculture and feed for monogastric animals in a single project. The project not only offers economic benefits but can also have a positive climate and environmental impact.

By upcycling traditional feed crops to food ingredients and replacing soy protein in feed formulations, it has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly.

High-quality protein

The core idea behind the project is to produce high-quality white protein isolate and concentrate ingredients for use in food applications and aquafeed, respectively, leveraging raw materials such as alfalfa, white clover, and sea lettuce.

Overcoming colour and antinutritional factors (ANFs) presents a challenge, but GreenImPro will tackle this hurdle by combining heat treatment with filtration using an innovative vibrational membrane technology.

The process, which was developed and optimized at Department of Food Science at Aarhus University, will be refined and optimized in a demonstration biorefinery facility at Aarhus University Viborg before being scaled up to commercial production at the Project Lead, the company BioRefine.

Three different protein qualities

The GreenImPro consortium is composed of research and industry partners with diverse capabilities.

The involved departments from Aarhus University possess in-depth knowledge of the complex chemistry of the biomasses involved, expertise in agile scale-up within demonstration facilities, and facilities for testing protein quality for both food and feed applications.

The project is funded under the Innovation Fund Denmark Grand Solution programme, which invests in ambitious, interdisciplinary research and innovation projects that can create new, concrete solutions to important politically prioritized societal challenges. This makes it possible to bring all needed capabilities and partners into play.

”GreenImPro gives us the opportunity to work on three different protein qualities for food, aquafeed, and feed for monogastric animals. We are excited to get the change to deliver science and knowledge with potential to be implemented in industry within a short period of time and which makes a difference in green transition,” Professor at Department of Food Science at Aarhus University, Trine Kastrup Dalsgaard says.

Diverse consortium

Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering at Aarhus University will upscale a process line developed at Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, who will also evaluate the food quality together with Toft Care.

Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Aarhus University and BioMar will evaluate the nutritional value in monogastric animals and trouts, respectively.

Partners such as HedeDanmark bring experience in large-scale, mechanised, and gentle sea lettuce harvests in close collaboration with Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University, while BioRefine contributes with expertise in scaling up and commercial operation of the biorefinery process where SANI Membranes brings their patented membrane technology into play.

Finally, University of Southern Denmark will do Life Cycle Assessment on the whole process.