Plant-Based Proteins
The relevance of plant-based proteins has increased significantly in the food industry and is an essential part to supply the growing market with meat alternatives and vegan products. Plant-based proteins are usually obtained from pulses such as soybeans, faba beans, peas, or selected grains. They are not only as a source of protein, but also contain other nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Various industrial processes have been developed over the years to obtain the protein and starch fractions. These processes can be divided into two common methods: a multi-stage wet isolation process and a two-stage dry concentration process. The dry process is also known as the concentration process or protein shifting process. Both processes separate the pulses into a protein-rich and a starch-rich fraction.
Many industrial applications rely on the dry concentrating process. This has the advantage of being less complex and more cost efficient. At the same time, it is a gentle grinding process, as the proteins are not denatured, and they retain their natural form. This process is now used to produce fractions containing up to 65% protein from faba beans, for example.
In the first step, the de-hulled legume is ground to a defined particle size and in the second step, the powder is classified and separated into a protein-rich fraction and a starch-rich fraction. This process is also called protein shifting.
The dried and de-hulled pulses are ground in the first process step. Our ICX impact classifier mill eXtra is a proven and ideal solution for doing this.
The pulses are fed directly into the impact classifier mill via a dosing device and ground to a fine powder. What is essential at this step is not the grinding only, but the release of starch and protein particles from their embedded structure.
The ground products are separated in a second process step. The product fineness is around 35µm, which is not applicable on a screening machine anymore and an air classifier system is used instead. Our guide ring classifier GRC is the ideal equipment for this application.
It is characterized by its ability to achieve an sharp separation cut and thus separate the largest possible portion of protein from the feed material.
The powder produced by the classifier mill is fed by a silo or Big Bag, which is placed above the guide ring classifier.
The classifier and housing geometry in combination with an innovative air guide system achieves maximum separation and energy efficiency at the same time. This makes the GRC guide ring classifier the ideal machine for concentrating a high proportion of proteins in the fines.
From the selection of raw materials to produce of the perfect plant-based protein powder to the final product: together with GEA, we are moving into the future of plant-based foods.
In cooperation, we can offer the conversion of pulses into texturized vegetable proteins to finished product.
GEA has been involved in plant-based foods for a long time. In recent years, several projects have been implemented with the aim of providing companies with technologies for the enrichment of plant-based proteins for the food industry.
With us, GEA has gained a reliable and strong partner for the dry grinding process.
From the beginning, the target was to combine GEA's expertise in food production with our know-how in grinding and classifying technology for food application such as sugar, sugar mixtures, cocoa press cake or tartaric acid.
