Project description
Rising protein demand sparks cereal revolution
As demand for clean-label plant proteins increases, scientists are seeking alternatives to meet this nutritional need. Cereals, the staple nutrient source for many, emerge as a promising solution, with proteins being the second most abundant nutrient in minor grains like millets. The UN’s declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets underscored their vital role in global food supply. However, rising global temperatures threaten conventional grain sources. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ProCereal project aims to transform minor cereal flours, particularly millets, into high-quality proteins using innovative green technologies. ProCereal’s zero-waste approach not only addresses the protein crisis, but also pioneers sustainable value chains for minor cereals in our ever-evolving world.
Objective
"Clean-label plant proteins have gained a lot of financial, research, and consumer attention globally, fostering a great interest of food scientists in exploring various alternative plant sources and technologies to fabricate protein-rich food products. Cereals being the major nutrient vehicle for the masses and proteins being the second most abundant nutrient in these minor cereals, these grains can be a suitable alternative for plant-based proteins, to meet the increased protein demands. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has declared 2023 the ""International Year of Millets and owing to its invaluable contribution to the world's food supply, not only millets but also other minor cereals are currently undergoing a revival. When other grains fail due to rising global temperatures, such minor cereals that can withstand drought are anticipated to provide food for the entire world's population. Thus, the overall aim of ProCereal is to generate high-quality cereal proteins by transforming minor cereal flours (like millets) with a zero-waste approach. ProCereal will employ novel green technologies to obtain high-value protein ingredients for food applications and the side-streams produced in the process would be explored for their potential for other high-value ingredients. This will allow the generation of new sustainable value chains for minor cereals like millets."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseeds
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
R93 Carlow
Ireland