NTI explained the importance of alternative proteins for the world’s population

NTI FoodNet expert Olga Orlova said that alternative proteins are necessary to preserve the environment, food supply, and people’s health.

“Alternative proteins are necessary not only for the population, which is growing and, according to forecasts, will reach about 10 billion people by 2050, that is, it is necessary to overcome the hunger of the population, but also for maintaining the health of the planet Earth, its ecology as a whole… In order to improve the health of the planet and humanity, alternative approaches are needed to use new, clean sources of feed, new production technologies (biotechnology) of functional clean food, and much more,” said NTI FoodNet expert Olga Orlova at the design and educational intensive “Archipelago 2024”.

She noted that one of the main and important trends in the food industry today is the search for alternative proteins as the main source of growth, restoration, and development of the body. Promising areas for obtaining proteins are primarily crop production, aquaculture, cultivation, and seaweed, she added.

For example, when creating cultured meat of an animal or fish, the cell is placed in a certain nutrient medium.

“Thus, using the cell of a certain animal, fish, but with the most clearly defined properties that we want to obtain, we obtain a clean product, without waste, with functional properties,” Orlova clarified.

According to her, another alternative protein is insect protein – it is not so widespread in the country but is still being developed primarily for the needs of agriculture for the production of feed.

“Mushroom mycelia and various seaweeds, which initially have a high protein content in their mass, are also used as alternative proteins,” emphasized the NTI FoodNet expert.

From July 8 to July 21, 2024, the annual design and educational intensive “Archipelago 2024” is taking place in the Sakhalin region for individual participants, startups, companies, regions, and universities that are developing projects in the field of new technologies.