Ovalbumin production using Trichoderma reesei culture and low-carbon energy could mitigate the environmental impacts of chicken-egg-derived ovalbumin

Natasha Järviö*, Tuure Parviainen, Netta Leena Maljanen, Yumi Kobayashi, Lauri Kujanpää, Dilek Ercili-Cura, Christopher P. Landowski, Toni Ryynänen, Emilia Nordlund, Hanna L. Tuomisto

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ovalbumin (OVA) produced using the fungus Trichoderma reesei (Tr-OVA) could become a sustainable replacement for chicken egg white protein powder—a widely used ingredient in the food industry. Although the approach can generate OVA at pilot scale, the environmental impacts of industrial-scale production have not been explored. Here, we conducted an anticipatory life cycle assessment using data from a pilot study to compare the impacts of Tr-OVA production with an equivalent functional unit of dried chicken egg white protein produced in Finland, Germany and Poland. Tr-OVA production reduced most agriculture-associated impacts, such as global warming and land use. Increased impacts were mostly related to industrial inputs, such as electricity production, but were also associated with glucose consumption. Switching to low-carbon energy sources could further reduce environmental impact, demonstrating the potential benefits of cellular agriculture over livestock agriculture for OVA production.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1005-1013
JournalNature Food
Volume2
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Dec 2021
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work was part of the ‘Cultured meat in the post-animal bioeconomy’ project (no. 201802185) funded by the KONE foundation (N.J. and T.R.) and the ‘Transforming agriculture with agroecological symbiosis combined with cellular agriculture— environmental impacts and perceptions of farmers and consumers’ project funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation (N.-L.M.).

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