The Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre is working with start-up The Leaf Protein Company, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Woolworths, and Perfection Fresh to develop a revolutionary approach to processing edible green leafy food waste.
The project is examining the viability of using The Leaf Protein Co.’s proprietary technology to recover protein, fibre and other components from green leafy waste generated by Perfection Fresh and Woolworths.
Perfection Fresh has the exclusive rights to the specialty broccoli called broccolini, which it developed with supply partners before coming to market in 1999.
Before it comes to market, substantial amounts of broccolini leaf material, which is packed with nutritional value, is removed and collected.
Meanwhile, Woolworths stores collect a variety of leafy green vegetable waste from lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli that are mainly outside leaves removed by staff or customers prior to purchase.
The protein and fibre enriched fractions resulting from the recovery process could be used by food manufacturers across a wide range of applications including biscuits, health bars and functional drinks.
Fight Food Waste CRC CEO Dr Steven Lapidge said Australia’s goal of halving its 7.6 million tonnes of annual food waste by 2030 will only be successful through collaboration and innovation in the R&D space.
“Food waste is an enormous economic, environmental, and social challenge in this country – it costs us $36.6 billion each year, feeds climate change and occurs even though millions of Australians are food insecure.
“The only way we can meet this challenge is by working together, and projects like this are a good example of what the Fight Food Waste CRC has been designed to do: identifying problems, and then creating the environment for the right industry and research partners to collaborate at the right time to conduct R&D that has real impact.
“It’s particularly pleasing that SARDI is involved with this project and that the research is being done here at the Waite Campus. SARDI has a proud history of leading innovative agricultural and food-based research in this state, and we look forward to working with them on future CRC food waste reduction projects.”
South Australian Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Clare Scriven, said the project enhances South Australia’s status as a global leader in plant and agricultural research to drive environmental sustainability.
“This project perfectly symbolises what we’ve done very well in South Australia for decades: perform world-leading collaborative research that leads to innovative solutions for the agriculture industry with flow-on benefits for all of us,” she said.
