Sustainable soya alternative gathers pace with pea research

A pioneering UK research project has developed new pea varieties with enhanced nutrition, reduced allergens, and no traditional pea flavour – a major step towards creating a home-grown alternative to imported soya.

The £1m Pea Protein Project, funded by Defra and Innovate UK, brings together Germinal, the John Innes Centre, the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (Ibers) at Aberystwyth University, and the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO).

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The project is seeking to to develop a sustainable UK-grown protein crop, meet market demand for taste and functionality in food production, and reduce reliance on imported soya.

Using discoveries from the John Innes Centre, researchers have suppressed the natural flavour of peas and improved their protein quality through traditional breeding methods.

Paul Billings, chief executive of Germinal UK and Ireland, said: “Pea crops provide a rich source of protein and boost soil health through fixing free atmospheric nitrogen, leaving behind a supply of nutrients for following crops in rotations.

“Their potential to help reduce the UK’s reliance on imports of soya, which can amount to between 3m and 4m tonnes per year, is enormous.”

He added: “We have now cleared a further hurdle by improving the protein quality of peas while removing the flavour that holds back their wider use and demand in food manufacturing.”

Roger Vickers, chief executive of PGRO, said researchers are moving to the next phase of the project, “to multiply the seed stock to permit testing of their agronomic performance under practical farm growing conditions”.

Claire Domoney of the John Innes Centre said the development “will provide a UK-grown, sustainable alternative option to soya,” while Ana Winters of Ibers described it as “a significant advancement for the UK’s alternative protein industry”.