About the project

Tissue engineered milk, precision fermentation derived milk proteins and single cell proteins (biomass) will be evaluated. Bottlenecks that currently hinder affordable large-scale production will be explored: protein quality, mild downstream processing, scalability, and application, EU legislation, and safety. From a scientific perspective, the structure-function relationships of milk proteoforms will be deciphered, expanding the understanding of how nature combines proteins. 

Goal

The project will develop technologies and knowledge to translate the different proteins into food prototypes. In this way, the potential of these proteins for any (food) product in the long-term will be illustrated, and evidence on the resource efficiency, sustainability potential, and safety of different fermentation approaches will be provided. 

Specifications

Academic partners
Utrecht University, Maastricht University, Good Food Insititute, Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, Wageningen University – Food Process Engineering

Industrial partners
Tetra Pak Nederland Holding, Air Liquide, FrieslandCampina, Upfield Research & Development, TurtleTree Labs, Those Vegan Cowboys, LegenDairyFormo, The Protein Brewery, Superbrewed Food, Bodec

Project leader/contact person
Dr. Julia Keppler, julia.keppler@wur.nl  

Time period
2022-2026 

Total budget
1.58 M euro 

# PhD
3     

# Postdoc