From waste stream to wholegrain pasta
During grain processing by-products are generated, particularly after the conversion or sedimentation-based malting stage. GEA has successfully managed to convert the so-called brewer’s spent grain, often treated as waste, into dry pasta with enhanced nutritional properties. The project was carried out in collaboration with EverGrain by AB InBev, a global company specialized in raw materials handling from the beer brewing process.
“Every day, in terms of a technology or a machine, we want to improve something that already exists or create something new. Of course, our key focus at GEA Pasta, Extrusion and Milling Technologies (GEA PEM) is on final products such as pasta, snacks, and pet foods,” says Davide Di Nunno, Director R&D, Pasta and Snacks, “but today new food and sustainability have become central pillars and fundamental drivers of the projects we undertake.”
“EverGrain had already developed a breakthrough process,” explains Davide, “to upcycle fiber and protein ingredients from grains the company refers to as ‘saved’. However, we are aware of some initial research that was done in a university environment, but the result had to be validated in an environment more representative of industrial production. As a result, EverGrain contacted us to further evaluate the project together and provided us with the raw material.”
When they are not disposed of as waste, the spent grain can be mixed with other ingredients to make animal feed or supplied to third parties who use it for biogas production. That said, the revenue generated is almost negligible and more often than not, a cost! “We wanted to apply the dual concepts of innovation and sustainability to this project,” comments Davide, “and help validating the saved grains into a value-added product for the company as opposed to a by-product.”
“Whenever we approach an investigation such as this one, we first undertake a bibliographic study to fully understand the current situation in terms of both the technology and the market. We also review customer demand and what we can do to improve the situation. Then, we move on to the practical part of the project with a technical study and designing the new technology.”
“So, what we’ve done, together with EverGrain, is run several trials with a mix of semolina flour (from Durum wheat) with the saved grain ingredients to develop a final product — dry pasta — that benefits from additional nutritional value in terms of protein and fiber. Throughout the experimentation, we’ve been testing mixtures comprising different concentrations of different flours and a range of dryer machinery settings and process line parameters to achieve the best possible result.”
Davide continues: “At our Technology Center in Galliera Veneta (Italy) we were able to produce a dry pasta that compares very well with the wholegrain pasta. And here we’re talking about whole wheat (wholegrain) pasta as opposed to the regular variety made with refined flour. One issue while working with whole wheat pasta is the color; it’s darker than classic pasta, yet consumers can use these visual cues to connect the natural product to higher protein and fiber content. Now, various grades are available, which vary in terms of their fiber and protein content. The one that gave us the best result in terms of making the new pasta product was the one with the highest protein concentration.”
After obtaining a finished pasta that delivered in terms of taste and color, GEA has been able to supply EverGrain with a significant volume of product. As such, EverGrain is now rolling the product out to market, getting good uptake and feedback, and even sending it to their overseas partners in the US, Netherlands and Switzerland, for example.
Davide adds: “EverGrain is working to scale-up production and offer a wider range of formats. At the same time, the company is looking to find new pasta manufacturers that might be interested in sustainably improving the nutritional profile of their products with upcycled ingredients, armed with the knowledge available as a result of GEA technology we are already looking forward to this. Furthermore, we have scheduled additional tests using the same raw materials for a number of different products.”
Asked to comment on the technology that was used during the project, Davide explains that “everything we’ve done has been based on our standard machine and, from there, we’ve made developments and improvements to accommodate various health and trend applications. Based on this experience and working with several flours and raw materials, we applied what we’d learnt and experimented with different machine settings, temperatures, and extrusion steps; we also developed a special drying stage specifically for this type of pasta because we wanted to ensure that it was comparable with the standard wholegrain version. Additionally, we’ve researched other products beyond just semolina and spent grain, such as pulse flours and ingredients, that would enable us to further increase the protein content (such as some isolated proteins from pulse flours).”
“Now, as a conclusion of this project, we have associated this work with two of our important pillars: new food — an end product with additional nutritional value — and sustainability. What is commonly considered as waste product can now be included in the food chain as a high-quality ingredient. Last but not least, we are also exploring the use of these ingredients in pet foods.”
EverGrain ingredients
“EverGrain Ingredients is a barley fiber and protein ingredient company backed by Anheuser-Busch InBev,” notes EverGrain’s CEO, Greg Belt, “and as a result of this project, we’re introducing ingredients that aim to enable a new benchmark for limited water use, carbon emissions and land use while ensuring better nutrition and taste.”
“People are talking … and what they’re saying is that they want plant-based options that taste better, are more nutritious and that truly have a positive impact on the planet,” he added: “It’s our responsibility to set the food industry on the most sustainable path forward … and this is one of many commitments that we’re making to contribute to the change that our planet so desperately needs.”
