But seriously, this is really cool :
Researchers in Finland are developing a way to zap that simple recipe with electricity inside a bioreactor to create a powder that's about 50 percent protein and 25 percent carbohydrates.
The edible powder could be mixed into a shake or turned into a tofu-like food for people. It also could be transformed into feed for animals. Because it's processed inside in a bioreactor — similar to how beer and Quorn, a British meat substitute, is made — it doesn't require the tremendous amounts of land, water or other resources necessary for large-scale agriculture and doesn't emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
If solar power is used to produce the electricity, the process is about 10 times more efficient at producing food than conventional agriculture that relies on soil, says Ahola.
For this proof-of-concept endeavor, the bioreactor used was the size of a coffee cup, and the process to produce 1 gram of the protein took about two weeks. Ahola and colleague Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, a principal scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, say they are working on plans to build a larger bioreactor, about 6 liters (1.6 gallons) in size, by early next year. "We think that we would be able to scale it up rather soon now that we have got it working," says Pitkänen.
The first real application could be in the desert, feeding people in Africa," says Pitkänen.
http://trib.al/Za1vI5R
ReplyDeleteSuddenly deep space travel seems not so bad.
(am I alone in really liking Quorn?)
James Garry
ReplyDeleteI use Quorn to add protein to soups and stews. But you have to add a sauce for flavor since the stuff is tasteless.
Winchell Chung Agreed - but texture-wise, it's spot-on. And hard to find in Canada (Quebec is my nearest source - last time I checked).
ReplyDeleteDim memories tell me that the Skylab crews preferred spicier/more flavourful foodstuffs - something about the absence of convection in the sinuses IIRC. So, yes, the spice must flow, if only to make the Quorn palatable in microgee.
I like Quorn. So do cats, apparently.
ReplyDeleteAbout a year into my PhD my supervisor decided to throw a party for the galaxy group. This was in October, in Wales, so it was cold, wet and windy. We hiked up a local mountain and went back for a barbecue, which he somehow managed to start despite the inclement weather and now total darkness. Anyway the vegetarians of the group, being of the more militant sort, held their own barbecue so as not to contaminate it with real meat. At some point this cat turns up, sniffing around the place for scraps. Unluckily for the cat he found the vegetarian section. Investigating a not-empty Quorn burger box with a little too much enthusiasm and determination, suddenly he has this box stuck on his head. In a blind panic (literally - the box is really wedged on tight, he can't possibly see a thing) the cat bolts for it, clears a 10 ft fence no problem, then dashes across the street into the night, burger box still attached.
I guess Quorn is pretty powerful stuff.
James Garry
ReplyDeleteas a worthless data point I live in the US and Quorn is commonly available in my local grocery store.
RE: SkyLab crews preferring spicy, yes apparently this is common among all space crews in free fall.
See:
http://sci-ence.org/space-spicy/