A Stanford University lab has made a cheese-like product from food waste, using fungal fermentation. Vayu Hill-Maini, the bioengineer running the lab, says: “One of the most amazing things that we found recently is that we could take waste and add a few other ingredients in a fungal fermentation and create this delicious cheese that is like a Pecorino or Parmigiano.”
The process, known as fermentation, is a biological process where organisms convert carbohydrates into alcohol without oxygen. While traditionally used in baking and brewing, companies are now applying it to by-products of the food industry that are normally discarded. UK-based Fermtech is transforming cocoa shells – typically thrown away – into a cocoa powder substitute using fermentation.
“Fermentation turns food waste into cheese-like products and cocoa powder, with UK firm Fermtech leading.”
“If you were to sniff a bag of cocoa shells, you would be really struck by the intense chocolatey nature of it,” says Andy Clayton, Fermtech’s CEO. He says it is a shame that by-products of the food industry are composted or burnt, rather than using microorganisms to break down the hard bits of the plant and make it bioavailable for humans, while retaining the flavours.
Utilising a broader palette of substrates can save money, help the environment, and expand flavour. “We’re kind of like flavour miners,” Clayton says.
Take peas. Protein makes up about a quarter of a pea, and pea protein has become an increasingly popular source of plant-based protein. The other three-quarters make “a perfect substrate for fermentation,” according to Bosco Emparanza, the CEO of Spain’s MOA Foodtech.
His company gathers data on environmental conditions and available substrates, and sequences the genomes of microorganisms appropriate for the food industry. With that data, MOA has trained an AI to work out what combinations of substrates and microorganisms would achieve the best yields.
Emparanza marvels at the speed of such AI-driven fermentation design. “When we started the company, we were able to develop one bioprocess in two weeks,” he says. “Nowadays, the platform can develop 300 bioprocesses per hour.”
Such rapid design could unlock the potential of countless waste streams, turning what is discarded into valuable, tasty products.