Peptide fractionation - Functional peptide fractions from protein-containing residues of food and agricultural production
Contact: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Danneel, Dr. Jörg Tachil, José Gerardo Fuentes Ruiz
Cooperation partner: NutriteQ GmbH
Funding program: BMBF Ideas Competition "New Products for the Bioeconomy" (IBÖM01).
Duration: 01.11.2015 - 30.06.2017
Protein-containing residues are produced to a considerable extent worldwide during the processing and refining of food. Despite a steadily growing world population and a decline in arable land and a concomitant shortage of food, large quantities of proteinaceous residues from the food and agricultural industries are disposed of or used as livestock feed every year. In view of this increasingly apparent gap between rising demand for high-quality protein/peptide sources on the one hand and dwindling resources on the other, sustainable use of available protein sources is becoming more and more important. The production of high-quality peptides or peptide mixtures from almost unlimited and inexpensive raw materials is also interesting from an economic point of view.
By enzymatic hydrolysis of protein extracts, residues from production processes can be converted into peptides or peptide mixtures. Peptides/peptide mixtures produced and purified in this way often exhibit improved techno- and biofunctional properties in terms of odor/taste, amino acid composition and antimicrobial, antioxidant or cosmetic properties compared with the starting substances. A patented process chromatographic separation method developed at the Institute of Food Technologies NRW (ILT.NRW) (inventor: Prof. Dr. H.-J. Danneel) has made it possible to produce, fractionate and purify almost any protein hydrolysates on a preparative and pilot scale and thus to develop high-quality products with the desired techno- and biofunctional properties from protein-containing residues. As part of a feasibility phase, work is currently being carried out at ILT.NRW on a "proof of concept" for the development, production and marketing of peptide mixtures from protein hydrolysates.