Faba bean protein concentrate replaces animal blood plasma in wet pet food

Beneo reports positive results from its technical trials demonstrating its faba bean protein concentrate can replace spray-dried animal blood plasma (ABP) in wet pet food. Developed for full or partial ABP replacement, the ingredient has “no significant change” in the end product’s weight or texture, offering significant cost savings, according to the supplier.

Faba bean showcased better binding properties than pea protein concentrate when replacing ABP in trials.

“With two in three pet owners considering plant-based proteins to be better for the environment, demand has grown for sustainable and locally sourced vegetal protein ingredients,” says Dr. Maygane Ronsmans, product manager Animal Nutrition at Beneo.

“As the technical trials show, Beneo’s faba bean protein concentrate offers pet food manufacturers a win-win scenario: producers can decrease their recipe costs while benefitting from secure supply and meeting consumer expectations for more sustainable and plant-based pet foods, without impacting the quality of the end product,” she highlights.

“This is good news for the growing number of producers committing to clear environmental targets.”

Offsetting high costs of premiumization

Beneo highlights that demand for wet pet food is growing, with the segment’s rise being propelled by pet owners shopping for premium and nutritionally balanced pet foods with good palatability.

Manufacturers can standardize and maintain the quality of premium and super-premium wet pet food — with relatively high total moisture levels of at least 50 wt% — by adding ABP, suggests the company.

Beneo’s faba bean protein concentrate is included in the EU Catalogue of Feed Materials and is suitable for “no grain” claims in pet food.While this ingredient has good prime texturizing and emulsifying properties, high costs come with these functional benefits, underscores Beneo. Moreover, it notes consumers increasingly consider ABP as undesirable due to its animal origin, which has been driving up demand for plant-based labels in pet food.

Passion4Food, a specialist service provider for the pet food industry, investigated the performance of Beneo’s faba bean protein concentrate when partially or fully replacing ABP by 50% and 100%, respectively, in high-protein wet pet food paté loaves.

“The results were so promising that follow-up trials were carried out using a test recipe suitable for commercial scalability,” highlights Beneo.

“The results showed that Beneo’s faba bean protein concentrate is an excellent and more cost-effective alternative binder to ABP, with no significant changes recorded in terms of the height, weight, hardness, or adhesiveness of the loaves.”

Preventing food hardening

Partial replacement of ABP with pea protein concentrate also led to a “significant decrease” in the wet pet food loaves’ hardness, demonstrating faba bean protein concentrate’s binding capacity. This property can improve the texture of the end product, highlights Beneo.

Faba bean protein has a protein content of 61 g, or 100 g on dry matter, and a digestibility score of almost 90%, making it a highly digestible source of protein. Its amino acid profile is relatively rich in lysine and can complement cereal protein like rice protein or vital wheat gluten for a complete essential amino acid profile.

Additionally, Beneo’s faba bean protein concentrate is included in the EU Catalogue of Feed Materials and is suitable for “no grain” claims in pet food.

In August, Beneo filed an international patent application for its faba bean protein concentrate as an alternative to spray-dried ABP in wet pet food.

Next to its technical and cost benefits, Beneo claims its faba bean protein concentrate offers strong sustainability credentials, backed by a local sourcing and production process in Germany.