By 2006, canola meal, an unloved byproduct of canola crushing, may become a hot commodity for two companies.
That is when Burcon NutraScience Corp. of Vancouver expects to be selling canola protein extracts through its partner Archer Daniels Midland Corp.
“By entering into this agreement with ADM, we are very close,” said Burcon president Johann Tergesen.
“One of the biggest objectives of partnering with somebody like Archer Daniels Midland is the ability to move to market very fast.”
Burcon has signed a letter of intent to sign a licensing and development agreement to produce and market two of its canola protein extracts.
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Burcon has patented an extraction process that removes specific proteins from canola meal. Those proteins can be used in food preparation to replace traditional sources.
In baking, eggs are often used to add a sticky element to things like cookies. Large baking companies often buy egg extracts, such as spray-dried egg whites, Tergesen said, to have easy-to-mix ingredients that contain essential proteins.
But the advantage of canola proteins over egg and dairy types is that canola proteins can be more cheaply produced. Spray-dried egg whites can cost $9-$10 per kilogram, Tergesen said. If his company can produce a protein extract that does the same thing as egg whites but costs significantly less, he thinks processors will buy it.
Protein extracts are beginning to play a significant role in the food processing industry, which may begin affecting farmers. During the recent Canada Grains Council meeting, American grain industry analyst Morton Sosland said dairy-based extracts are used by some millers to extend the shelf life of bread.
That is bad news for wheat sellers because if bakers can cut down the amount of bread they throw out, which can be 10-15 percent of what they produce, they will buy that much less wheat.
Sosland said some extracts are being used by millers to increase their use of lower grades of wheat but still produce high quality products. That undermines the premium for high quality wheat.
“They have certainly made it possible for bakers to get along when high quality wheat becomes excessively expensive,” said Sosland in an interview.
“The potential to earn a premium has been considerably diminished by the introduction of some of these.”
He thinks that market will keep growing as food processing becomes more scientifically advanced.
“There’s a huge, massive industry out there for protein ingredients.”
Tergesen said if his company goes into full production of its protein extracts, it could use all of the canola meal produced by one large canola crushing plant Ð about 600 tonnes per day.
About 39 percent of the meal is protein, and Burcon believes it can isolate and extract about one-third of that for its products.
Canola meal is not expensive and is used mostly for livestock feed. That’s why Burcon thinks it has a profitable opportunity.
“We take canola meal, which sells at a significant discount to soy meal … and extract an almost pure protein from it, and create a high value human food component,” said Tergesen.
