Flavourless Peas; a new technology to combat climate change?
Photo from (Ronald van der Graaf)
While flavourless peas might at first sound like a bad thing, these blander legumes could be used to help us reduce our environmental footprint. The key is their potential use in plant-based meat products. While many people have turned to these alternatives in an effort to be more sustainable, the products do require a large number of soya products which are mostly grown in South America. To meet this growing demand, more and more rainforest is being cleared to provide more farmland, undermining the benefits that consumers seek by avoiding actual meat.
Scientists now hope that peas could be used to replace these soya products, further reducing the environmental impact of people’s favourite meat-based meals. Peas are much more environmentally friendly to grow as they can be grown closer to places experiencing a greater interest in plant-based meat products and they do not need nitrogen-rich fertilisers, which require a lot of energy to produce. Peas also have a lot lower fat percentage than soya products, making them better for people trying to keep their weight down.
The one issue is the strong pea flavour that can be tasted in faux-meat products when they are manufactured with peas. Now, a company called Germinal in Belfast, which has received some funding from the UK government, have started a breeding programme to cross traditional pea plants with a wild pea plant found in India which has no flavour. The hope is to have a commercially viable, flavourless pea plant in the next few years.
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