PeaProtein

The biggest consumer trend in the UK food sector is in plant-based food, with sales of meat alternatives expected to be £1.1 billion by 2024, with a 30% year to year growth, and £565 million for dairy alternatives (48% and 38% growth year on year for milk and cheese alternatives, respectively). Currently the largest source of plant-based protein is soy derived, with around 70% of UK soy imports (c.2.7million t soybean equivalents in 2021) coming from South America with associated problems of environmental sustainability. The production of soy in England is not practicable due to a lack of suitable varieties and sub-optimal growing conditions to reliably produce harvestable crops of even the earliest maturing varieties.

**PeaProtein addresses the urgent need** to replace soy imported protein with English grown protein crops that can meet the market demand for quality and sustainability. However, problems of cultivation and of nutritional value limit their uses as a protein crop and their value to end-users which limits market opportunities and consequently their attractiveness to farmers. While pulses such as pea are more suited to English agriculture and provide an attractive alternative to soy protein, a major limiting factor to widespread use in processed meat and dairy alternatives is their flavour profile and the presence of anti-nutritional and allergenic proteins. Volatile organic compounds associated with the aroma and flavour of the pulse in its unprocessed state are detected as off-flavours in processed food. Overcoming the barriers of agronomic performance and residual flavours will enable the wider use of pea protein in plant-based foods is the primary objective of this project.

**PeaProtein** will exploit innovative and game changing research in pea genetics as the basis for a new pea breeding programme that will breed novel pea varieties without the problems of grain composition, creating a new resource efficient and low emission source of proteins for the UK market. Robust testing of potential varieties for grain composition and agronomic performance will ensure that only varieties which have the attributes for the UK protein industry and end-users and meet the needs of English farmers will be entered into official trials. Extensive dissemination and KE of the potential of these new varieties to farmers and industry end-users will demonstrate the opportunities and how this novel approach matches industry priorities.