A cutting-edge raw material in the protein market, yeast protein brings 'new business opportunities' to functional foods

Protein is one of the main nutrients and the material basis of all life. It is an important part of the body's cells. The human body needs to consume protein every day. In 1985, FAO/WHO proposed that the protein requirement of healthy adults is 0.75g per kilogram of body weight per day. Research data conducted by Nielsen in 2017 showed that overall health improvement and weight management are the main reasons why consumers in the United States and Canada choose protein products, followed by health reasons, conservation, and environmental protection. With the increase in the population and the improvement of living standards, the demand for protein in the global market is also growing rapidly.

Global protein market demand continues to grow
By 2050, the world's population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion, of which developing countries are the majority. The contradiction between food availability and population growth will continue to be obvious. The rapid population growth coupled with rapid changes in dietary habits will result in a huge "protein gap" between the world's available protein and the expected demand in 2050. From the 1960s to the 2030s, the global per capita and annual demand for plant protein and animal protein have increased significantly.

As vegetarianism has become a new healthy lifestyle, the global vegetarian population continues to grow, and the proportion of people in Asia is the highest in the world. At the same time, based on people's continued attention to environmental protection and animal welfare, alternative meat proteins have become a hot spot in market research. Among them, plant-based protein substitutes have become the focus of the market, such as pea protein, soy protein and wheat protein. Their advantage is lower carbon emissions, but there are also problems such as pollution and waste in soil and water sources.

As a cutting-edge raw material in the alternative protein market, microbial-derived protein is also on the rise and is developing at an unprecedented speed. Yeast protein is one of them. It has the similar nutritional value of animal protein, can avoid the challenges of genetic modification and land resource shortage caused by plant protein substitution, and is not affected by seasons, climate and other issues. It is a new choice for sustainable protein replacement. At the 2021 China Plant Extract Competitiveness Enhancement Forum held by Zhitiqiao, Chen Zhixian, the director and senior engineer of Angelnew's Raw Material Research Institute, shared the new and cutting-edge raw material in the protein market-AnPro® yeast protein.

A cutting-edge raw material in the protein market-AnPro® Yeast Protein
Yeast has been edible for thousands of years. It is rich in protein and contains as much as 40-60%, which is much higher than other animal foods. At the same time, yeast protein has a reasonable ratio of Amino Acids, is a high-quality protein source, has high digestibility, higher nutritional value than plant protein, close to animal protein, and is low in fat and cholesterol free. American nutritionist Adler Davis once said that eating yeast alone can solve most of the world's nutritional problems. To this end, Angel Yeast has developed an alternative to the protein market's cutting-edge raw material AnPro® yeast protein.
As a high-quality protein source, AnPro® yeast protein contains 75% protein and 17% dietary fiber, which is good for gastrointestinal health and overall health. AnPro® yeast protein contains complete essential amino acids and is a high-quality protein source with high bioavailability. The PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Fraction) level of AnPro® Yeast Protein is the same as Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) and higher than Soy Protein Isolate (SPI). At the same time, AnPro® yeast protein has a high content of branched chain amino acids, about 23%, which is higher than whey protein (20.9%) and soy protein isolate (14.6%). It can be used in product applications such as sports nutrition and sarcopenia.

The results of SHIME in vitro simulation experiments show that the digestibility of AnPro® yeast protein in the stomach and small intestine is significantly lower than that of WPC and SPI, while the digestibility of the three protein sources in the end of the small intestine is similar. This means that AnPro® yeast protein is a "slowly" digested protein. It is not because the digestibility is relatively low, but because it has a strong feeling of fullness. It can continuously and steadily bring in amino acid supplements, which may help anti-metabolism or protect muscles. . Studies have shown that the digestibility of AnPro® yeast protein is better than soy protein and slightly lower than whey protein.

In terms of regulating intestinal flora and anti-aging of skeletal muscle, yeast protein is supported by clear scientific data. In terms of anti-aging of skeletal muscles, after gavage with yeast protein increases the content of slow muscle fibers in the quadriceps femoris of the thigh. Compared with the control group, the muscle fiber density of the quadriceps femoris of the thigh of the yeast protein group was higher, and the gap between the muscle fibers was smaller. In terms of regulating the intestinal flora, mouse experiments found that compared with the control group, the semicircular fold structure in the colon cavity of the yeast protein group was more obvious, the epithelial layer of the colon mucosa was more complete, and the monolayer columnar cells were arranged more neatly. At the same time, the α-diversity of the intestinal flora in the yeast protein group was significantly higher than that in the control group.

Application of AnPro® Yeast Protein in Functional Products
AnPro® yeast protein has a variety of physiological properties, such as high content of branched-chain amino acids, high digestibility and utilization, non-GMO, non-animal origin, no Lactose and gluten, etc., no anti-nutritional factors and no risk of Antibiotics and hormone residues. At present, the protein material can be used in the fields of sports nutrition/post-exercise recovery, weight management, overall health and muscle attenuation health. The suitable people include weight management and dieters, the elderly, and strict vegetarians or flexible vegetarians.
As a high-quality protein source, AnPro® yeast protein can be used in general foods (dairy products, protein drinks, snacks, biscuits and pastries, juices, breakfast cereals, meat, baked goods) and functional foods (dietary supplements, protein powders, Energy bars, protein bars, weight management, meal replacements). In addition, in the current hot artificial meat field, the raw material can replace part of soy protein, without obvious peculiar smell, and at the same time impart the raw meat flavor.

In general, yeast protein digests slowly and contains high-quality dietary fiber, which can effectively fight muscle aging and regulate intestinal flora. As an environmentally friendly and sustainable high-quality protein, yeast protein, as a new protein raw material, can be widely used in a variety of food fields, especially in the development of sports nutrition products and anti-muscle reduction products has significant market potential.