Making valuable ingredients from pea

The market for products utilising pea protein is exploding

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PEAS have been a mainstay in human nutrition history. They were one of the earliest cultivated food crops, and likely originated in southwestern Asia 10,000 years ago, according to archaeologists. Traces of cultivated pea dating back to 3,000 BC have been found in Switzerland, and the Greeks and the Romans are known to have cultivated this legume. The Apicius, a collection of Roman cookery recipes, lists several that use peas. In the Middle Ages, pea became the nutritional base of European peasants' diets and later, the legume was introduced to the Americas soon after Columbus arrival. All civilisations based their development and nutrition on wheat, rice, soy and legumes such as peas. Unfortunately, in our modern world, this last one tends to be forgotten. This is a shame considering the nutritional and environmental assets of such food. Composed of essential nutriments (slow carbs in the form of starch, proteins and fibres) and low in fat, pea is a very well balanced food. Satisfying new consumers' concerns Latest market analysis reveal that consumers are intensifying their focus on food sourcing, driven by fears, food sensitivities and environmental concerns, on top of aiming at healthier diets. 'Green' sourced ingredients. Nowadays, pea is an environmentally friendly nutritional source. Indeed, compared to many other cultures, it allows a sensible reduction in the use of phytosanitary products. Also, to produce 1 gram of meat protein, livestock is fed with about 6 grams of plant-based proteins. The protein ratio per agricultural hectare is far more efficient when thinking about diets based on plant proteins rather than meat-based. Furthermore, "cracking" the pea to extract the protein is a natural process involving no chemical solvents but water. Encouraging the consumption of quality vegetable proteins is part of a sustainable development. The pea used by Cosucra Groupe Warcoing in its Belgium plant comes from the north of France. As there is no existing GM pea source in Europe, there is no risk of dubious origin whereas this question sometimes cannot be excluded with soy. Non-dairy and meat-free products have become more common in consumers diets with increasing consumption of vegetable based beverages and sporadic avoidance of meat as part of a main meal. Pea is totally vegan, and a perfect protein source for vegetarian and meat-reducers. Allergy-friendly ingredients. Pea protein is one of the few vegetable protein sources without allergy, labelling or GM issues. Low allergenic, pea is better tolerated than soy and wheat. Whatever allowances, food sensitivities and beliefs regarding food, environmental and health issues, pea protein is the vegetal protein for everyone's particular needs. It's the protein answer to main diet restrictions: non-dairy, non-gluten, non-meat and non-soy. Pisane®, a pea protein isolate from Cosucra, can replace up to 100 per cent animal proteins in many foodstuffs with minimal impact on colour, taste or texture. Besides offering clean-labelling solutions, it is a competitive solution compared to dairy protein isolates and Identity Preserved GMO-free soy protein isolates. Solutions for advanced nutrition When thinking about vegetal protein source, soy naturally comes to mind. Less promoted than soy on the food market, pea actually has greater attention from food manufacturers than is apparent to the public. Indeed, pea protein nutritional and functional features have nothing to be ashamed of. Valuable amino acid profile. Pea protein isolate provides every essential amino acid in interesting proportions. It has a good, well-balanced nutritional profile. It has a very good digestibility associated with a low level of anti-nutritional factors. Pea protein isolate has a greater content in lysine and arginine than main oMujer