VTT’s Research Scientist, Anni Kortekangas, MSc (Food Sciences), studied the potential of plant-based side streams from the food industry, particularly rice bran and rapeseed press cake, as new food ingredients. The research provides new insights into how the properties of currently underutilised side streams can be tailored for food applications, thereby promoting the circular economy and a more sustainable food system.
Human activity is increasingly exceeding the planet’s ecological limits. Food systems play a significant role in achieving sustainable development goals, and more attention should be paid to making full use of the materials we produce. At the same time, new dietary recommendations place greater emphasis on plant-based diets and adequate fibre intake, creating a need for new sustainable sources of protein and dietary fibre.
The study examined side streams from the food industry, particularly rice bran generated during rice milling and rapeseed press cake produced as a by-product of rapeseed oil production. Both are currently used relatively little for human consumption, despite being rich in protein, dietary fibre and minerals.
A better understanding of the properties and nutritional quality of these side streams, as well as their behaviour in different food applications, can help increase their use in food products.
Kortekangas showed that the functional properties of plant-based side streams are influenced not only by protein and dietary fibre but also by other naturally occurring compounds, such as phytic acid. Enzymatic degradation of phytic acid improved the materials’ ability to form strong, water-binding structures, which is particularly important for the texture and quality of plant-based foods.
Reducing phytic acid is known to improve mineral bioavailability. However, the study found no significant changes in protein digestibility.
The research provides new knowledge about how protein, dietary fibre and other naturally occurring plant compounds interact and influence food properties. Understanding these interactions makes it possible to tailor the properties of raw materials using enzymatic and other biotechnological methods, develop new functional food ingredients, and ensure the quality of new food ingredients for human consumption.
The study shows that naturally occurring small plant compounds, such as phytic acid, have a significant impact not only on the nutritional quality of plant-based raw materials but also on their techno-functional properties. Using these materials more widely for human consumption requires a better understanding of how they behave in foods and during digestion.
“The research helps us understand how the properties of these materials can be tailored to make them suitable for food applications. This knowledge can be used to develop new plant-based foods and ingredients and to make more efficient use of currently underutilised side streams. In this way, the research supports a more sustainable food system and more efficient use of natural resources,” says Kortekangas.
Anni Kortekangas’s doctoral dissertation, Interactions of protein, dietary fiber, and co-passengers in plant-based side streams – Technological and digestive perspectives, will be examined at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland. Professor Laura Nyström from ETH Zurich will serve as the opponent, and Docent Emilia Nordlund, VTT as the custos.
Place of public defence: 21 August 2026, 11:00–15:00, Economicum, lecture hall, Arkadiankatu 7, Helsinki, and online: Link to the event.
Side streams from the food industry examined in the study: rice bran and rapeseed press cake
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