Researchers given $3m to turn waste products into new sustainable foods

University of Auckland researchers have been granted $3 million to develop new food products from horticultural waste with the goal of getting them on the market.

The team, led by the university’s professor of food science Siew-Young Quek, wants to turn fruit waste into a jelly-like product called bacterial cellulose, which could be used to create new nutritious food products or ingredients.

The researchers will try to make bacterial cellulose by fermenting industry waste, such as squeezed grapes used to make wine or fruits used to make juice.

Nata de coco, chewy jelly cubes made by fermenting coconut water, are an example of how the process is already used to make food, said Quek.

She said since the research is in its early phase, it’s hard to know what kind of food products they can make, but the possibilities range from a squishy jelly or liquid-like food to jerky-style solid food.

They could also create a powder product that could be used as an ingredient in other foods such as ice cream or yogurt.

Ways to incorporate protein into the food will also be looked at by the researchers.

Quek said she hopes to have a product ready to be sold by the final year of the three-year research project.

Although eating food dreamed up in a lab might be off-putting for some people, Quek said the new food will have no synthetic additives and be made in a natural way.

It could also have proven health benefits, she said.

The research is driven by the need to create more environmentally sustainable food systems, said Quek.

“My dream over many years has been to use food waste to create a future food that has health benefits for people and is better for the planet. Getting funding for this project feels like a huge step towards that,” said Quek.

Creating a food that makes use of fruit otherwise destined to be thrown away will help make New Zealand’s food production more environmentally sustainable, she told the Herald.

In New Zealand, about 16,000 tonnes of fruit is thrown away each year, along with 70,000 tonnes of residues from the fruit juice and wine industries.

Colleagues at the Singapore Institute of Technology have received S$1.25m ($1.65m) to develop new foods from mushroom biomass, in another branch of the project.

The team in New Zealand will try to incorporate the Singapore team’s findings into their research, while the Singapore team will perform a clinical trial on the most promising food product the New Zealand team creates.

The foods made in the lab will have their commercial viability tested by industry partners the research team is collaborating with.

Consumer responses to the products will be investigated by the university’s business school.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment granted the money to the researchers over three years.