Alternative Proteins - Challenges and Chances

BioSC International Summer School 2024
September 2 - 6, 2024
RWTH Aachen University

Photos:  iStock, Fotolia

Proteins are a central and essential part of food and feed. Very often they are made of animal products like meat, milk, or eggs, with a high impact on the environment, like greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and extensive land use. But there are alternatives which require much lesser inputs for example of land and water. This includes plant- or algae-based and fermentation-derived proteins. Fungi and insects can serve as alternative protein sources as well.

The use of all of them goes hand in hand with new and optimised ways of producing and processing the raw materials. In the case of plants, proteins are mostly used directly as food and require little processing. Other protein sources need to be broken down and processed to a much greater extent, depending on their utilisation. For example, they can be used to produce a substitute for animal products with similar or even the same ingredients and properties or they can be highly processed to a very pure protein or even amino acids for industrial use.

In the International BioSC Summer School "Alternative proteins - Challenges and Chances" you will learn about the different sources and processing methods regarding alternative proteins. And you will have the opportunity to work on case studies in small groups.