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Year Awarded 2021
FFAR award amount $612,257
Total award amount $800,000
Location St. Paul, MN
Program Plant Protein Enhancement Project
Matching Funders Benson Hill, Keygene, Syngenta, University of Minnesota
Plant protein is an important part of the global diet, but there are barriers limiting plant protein’s potential. Some amino acids, which are essential to diets, are missing or less abundant in plant protein. Also, a popular plant protein, soy, is an allergen for many. One alternative to soy is pea protein, but its nutritional value lags soy. University of Minnesota researchers are studying pea protein, develop methods for screening peas with superior protein nutrition and quality and breed these traits to cultivated peas.
FFAR award amount $387,556
Total award amount $387,556
Location West Lafayette, IN
Matching Funders Open Philanthropy
Plant-based protein alternatives are a rapidly expanding market. Soy and pea proteins can closely replicate the texture of meats, but they lack the chewy quality of meat, known as viscoelasticity, which creates a tender bite. Researchers at Purdue University are studying the viscoelasticity of a corn protein, zein, to develop a new commercial meat substitute.
FFAR award amount $1,012,500
Total award amount $1,200,000
Location Fargo, ND
Matching Funders Benson Hill, Keygene, Syngenta, North Dakota State University, Open Philanthropy
Peas are a popular source of plant protein, their production has a limited environmental footprint and they are economically beneficial for farmers. Although breeding efforts are partially focused on improving the nutritional content of peas, this gain is not happening fast enough to meet growing demand. North Dakota State University researchers are building genomic resources, breeding models and tools for improving total protein content in peas.
Year Awarded 2020
FFAR award amount $1,000,000
Total award amount $1,000,000
Location Davis, California
The future of agriculture requires producing more food on less land in an environmentally sustainable manner. Ensuring global nutritional security depends in large part on plants that are more efficient at producing calories and protein than livestock. However, centuries of crop domestication have limited the genetic capacity to improve widely consumed crops to meet these needs. NuCicer is introducing greater genetic diversity into chickpea varieties. This research is increasing protein content and quality and developing other desirable agronomic traits in chickpeas.
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