Maya Sapir-Mir and Raya Liberman-Aloni, co-founders of the Israeli start-up PoLoPo, have developed a technology capable of producing egg protein (ovalbumin) in potatoes.
“The first plant we want to work on is the potato. It’s a very cheap and resilient crop that, with our technology, can accumulate high amounts of protein. In its natural form, potatoes consist mostly of water and starch, which leaves room for our desired protein: ovalbumin”, Liberman-Aloni explained, as reported by Food Navigator.
The researchers are working on an extraction method that they believe will be much easier than extracting from leaves and seeds because they will not have to remove chlorophyll, polyphenols, and other metabolites.
PoLoPo believes that ovalbumin is ‘just the beginning’. “We also believe we have another product: a high-protein potato. Potato protein is highly commercial and has a lot of functionality, similar to ovalbumin,” Liberman-Aloni added.
Source: Food Navigator. Read the full article by Flora Southey here
Photo: Credit sq lim on Unsplash
