▲Plant-based meat

Food shortages are becoming more serious due to global population growth. In particular, the supply of livestock meat is reaching its maximum and there is a protein shortage threat in the near future. A promising solution to these food problems is a technique to process plant proteins, such as soybean, into realistic meat-like products.
Plant-based meat is drawing attention to ease the environmental impact* suffered from livestock and is becoming an essential technology in achieving a sustainable society.

Alginate is playing a key role in supporting these technologies.
Unlike meat, plant-based meat does not become sticky when kneaded. It is necessary to add a "binder" with high binding strength in order to process into a shape such as a burger patty. The unique physical properties of alginate are widely used in the production of plant-based meats for processing and molding.

*According to Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations report, Livestock farming is one of the most important causes of environmental problems. It is reported that "18% of greenhouse gases are caused by livestock."

Food loss means that food which can be consumed is discarded. Worldwide, 1.3 billion tons of consumable food are lost every year, making it a challenge to create a sustainable society.
One of the factors in food loss is "off-cut material" generated in food processing operations. Food is cut or trimmed to form products in accordance with standards, so it is impossible to eliminate the generation of off-cut materials.

For that reason, “Binding technology” is attracting attention, it regenerates valuable products from joining off-cut material together. Alginate can bind off-cut meat into a single meat piece. Alginate can also bind vegetables, onion rings are an example in which alginate has been used for many years.

"Healthy life expectancy" refers to the period during which people can live independently and healthily in both mind and body. Since the difference between healthy life expectancy and life expectancy is a period requiring long-term care, it is important to extend healthy life expectancy in countries with a developing aging population. Regenerative medicine is an essential technique to tackle the problem of an aging society.

Alginate is used in regenerative medicine as a "biomaterial" that shows no effect when administered to living organisms. For example, when alginate is injected into the knee of a patient whose knee cartilage has worn and is unable to walk, it gels at the affected area and remains in the required area, acting as a scaffold to stimulate chondrocyte regeneration. Research over a decade is in the final stages of clinical trials and practical applications are approaching.
In addition, alginate is used as an ink (base material) for 3D bioprinters that produce artificial organs. In the field of regenerative medicine, interest in alginic acid is increasing year on year.