Towards a holistic and sustainable Swedish value chain for pea biorefinery (100%Pea)

Research Project, 2021 – 2023

Locally produced peas are among the most sustainable food sources that are good for both human health and the planet. However, the current Swedish pea value chain is underutilized, where almost all the peas produced in Sweden ends up in feed application. 100%Pea aims at upgrading the existing Swedish pea value chain in its farming, warehouse/distribution, preprocessing and processing steps for high efficiency pea biorefinery platform. Within three work packages researchers at Chalmers and SLU, in collaboration with Lantmännen, will find the most suitable yellow pea varieties, farming location, and harvest time for the Swedish pea biorefinery platform, find the optimal storage, dehulling and milling conditions of peas for high efficiency biorefinery process, and develop a fine-tuned and scalable pea fractionation process for simultaneous recovery of functional and tasty protein, fiber, and starch fractions relevant for industrial applications. The project outcomes will contribute towards a holistic value chain for pea biorefinery platform to turn locally produced peas into high value multiple ingredients for food application.