Faba beans are protein-rich legumes, which can be grown in Denmark. However, faba beans also contain a number of antinutrients, which can hinder optimal uptake of nutrients. Anti-nutrients have only to some extent been targeted in commercial cultivars, but there is a good potential to improve these traits through selection of specific faba bean breeding lines. The project will be affiliated with the project BØNNEFISK, which aims to develop a faba bean concentrate for fish feed, which is high in protein but low in anti-nutrients. By replacing fishmeal or soy with faba bean protein-rich ingredients in fish feed a more sustainable and locally-sourced protein ingredient can be used. BØNNEFISK is a collaborative project between DTU Aqua, Nordic Seed A/S (plant breeding), Aarhus Protein A/S (faba bean processing) and BioMar A/S (fish feed company).
In the project, different varieties and breeding lines of faba bean will be analysed for anti-nutrients using various analytical methods including HPLC, LC-MS, enzyme assay, 1D and 2D gels. The effect of dry and wet fractionation on antinutrient levels can also be explored. Depending on timing and interest, the student can be aligned with project partners either focusing on plant breeding/faba ingredient processing or fish feed production and testing.
The project is aligned to UN's SGD:
