14 Sep 2012 Extrusion gives opportunities to meat alternatives

“The growing consumption of meat and the strong footprint of meat are reasons to soon find alternatives for meat analogue products,” stated Dr Ralph Thomann, Head of the Department of Food Technology, IGV Institute for Cereal Processing in Germany, at the annual international ExtruAfrica Conference held outside the Kruger Park recently.

ExtruAfrica is an initiative of the dti Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing (CoE) on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU) with the aim to promote extrusion technology through conferences and training seminars.

Extrusion cooking is particularly suitable for Africa, says Prof LJ Grobler, head of the CoE and Dean of the Engineering Faculty of the NWU, as it is a relatively inexpensive, energy-efficient and easily operated method to produce a wide range of ready-to-eat products.

Thomann presented a paper on the potential of extrusion for textured proteins from legumes, and noted that it is well-known that legumes – peas, beans, lentils, peanuts and soy – can be considered for beneficiation through extrusion cooking. His study on extruded pea products has revealed that pea protein extrudates had 85% protein content which makes it ideal as a meat substitute. Products also had excellent water stability, a meat like flavour, soft or crispy taste, good storage stability and perfect hygienic status.

“Extrusion of protein plant materials is a useful way for making plant based tasty, multipurpose high protein products at centralized locations,” he said. It also has a variety of applications such as protein bars and shakes, meat substitutes, pasta, dry soups and spicy and sweet flavoured snacks. Other advantages of extruded pea protein products are that it is non allergenic and gluten free. It does however have 6% hidden fat.

Using extruded textured proteins as meat alternative, is one of the most significant ways to help the planet, he noted. Not only does grain production needs far less water to produce than meat, but extrusion as a continuous high pressure cooking process, is also one of the most energy efficient and environmentally-friendly processes to produce pre-cooked ready-to-eat products.

According to Dr Mian Riaz, extrusion expert from the Texas A&M University in the US and main speaker at ExtruAfrica, extrusion has lower processing cost than other cooking and forming process. A manufacturer can save 19% raw material, 14% labour, and 44% capital investment. Extrusion processing also needs less space per unit of operation than other cooking systems.

Extrusion is ideal to establish small to medium-sized processing plants on farms or rural areas to produce food or feed products in close vicinity where local agricultural products can be processed and beneficiated into ready-to-eat products and thereby also assist with local economic development and job creation.

Prof Herman van Schalwyk, agricultural economist and Rector of the Potchefstroom Campus of the NWU, said: “Extrusion is the ideal tool to address malnutrition and ensure food security to more people in Africa. Extrusion increases the shelf life of most products and the possibilities to address malnutrition in poverty stricken countries, where cooling and cooking facilities are not available, are endless.”

Aside from sharing the great opportunities of extrusion, ExtruAfrica provides a networking opportunity with other role players and also give new ideas in terms of technology that can add value, how to obtain financing and the practical aspects of starting food manufacturing plants.

ExtruAfrica 2013 is already scheduled from 23 to 26 July and promises to once again be a great learning and networking opportunity. ExtruAfrica invites submissions of abstracts for consideration to speak at this event.

See more at www.extruafrica.org.za; or contact Petro de Wet at 018 299 1311; or [email protected].