How scientists across Asia and beyond are shaping alternative protein nutrition

As the alternative protein sector matures, one question keeps coming up: are these products optimally nourishing us? That’s exactly what we explored in our most recent Alt Protein Dialogues two-part webinar series: Understanding Nutrition in Alternative Proteins: Insights from Across Asia and Beyond. Featuring leading scientists from Singapore, India, China, and Australia, the webinars dived into their cutting-edge research on alternative protein nutrition, spanning topics such as biofortification, bioavailability, fermentation, and more, summarised below.

Why does alt protein nutrition matter?

Beyond the transformational ability of alternative proteins to positively impact the environment and meet global sustainability goals, they can play a crucial role in meeting human nutritional needs in ways that are accessible, culturally relevant, and affordable. Additionally, with consistently improving technology, alternative protein ingredients and products can be made nutritionally better compared to animal-derived proteins, especially in terms of protein, fibre, fat, and micronutrient content (read GFI India’s nutritional analysis study, which provides recommendations to enhance nutrition in alternative protein meat and egg products). Dr. Jolieke van der Pols, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the University of Queensland, outlined the importance of these multidimensional considerations for alternative proteins, which include:

Nutrient composition and bioavailability — amino acid profile, digestibility, micronutrient fortification, tissue metabolism, and presence or reduction of anti-nutrients.
Food-level context — how the protein is incorporated into a final product and how other ingredients may enhance or limit its nutritional value.
Dietary patterns — whether these proteins fit into local food cultures and contribute to better overall diet quality.
Food security — ensuring novel proteins are available and affordable to all.

Dr. van der Pols also touched on the fact that different types of alternative proteins – plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated – bring unique strengths and challenges. Pulses and legumes, for example, are nutrient-rich and environmentally beneficial due to nitrogen fixation, while precision fermentation can produce highly targeted proteins and functional ingredients. To be able to understand the nutritional impact and value of these alternative protein sources, we must be able to evaluate each ingredient for both protein quality and digestibility.

Accurately evaluating protein quality and digestibility

Nutritional quality assessments require robust, reproducible methods. Dr. Jia Yee Wu, Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, dove into the main tools used in protein quality and digestibility analysis and how they can be used to better formulate alternative protein products. While in recent years, there has been a shift from the use of Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) to Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS) to evaluate protein quality, Dr. Wu’s lab uses a harmonised in-vitro digestion protocol, INFOGEST, combined with peptidomics analysis. This method profiles the digestome of a protein source: the mixture of free amino acids, di- and tri-peptides, longer resistant peptides, and intact protein fragments that remain after digestion. Using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, these peptides are mapped back to their source proteins, revealing specific digestion bottlenecks — for example, amino acid sequences that resist enzymatic breakdown. The data obtained can be used to inform strategies to enhance digestibility, whether through changes in formulation, processing methods, or protein source.

Dr. Wu explained that improving a protein’s quality score comes down to two approaches: increasing the level of the limiting essential amino acid or improving digestibility by optimising amino acid composition and enabling the gastrointestinal tract to break down and absorb the protein more effectively.

What really matters – composition, protein sources, or protein quality?

The above analytical approaches reveal key differences between plant-based and animal protein digestion. In one case study, Dr. Wu compared chicken breast, chicken meatballs, to various plant-based meat alternatives made from soy, wheat, or pea protein. In terms of protein sources and composition, due to their shorter peptide length, chicken proteins were found to be more easily broken down and absorbed compared to the plant-based products, which often retain longer peptides that resist digestion. For the samples tested, the food processing method (extrusion vs. mechanical elongation) had less impact than the choice of protein sources. For instance, replacing soy-wheat blends with pea protein significantly reduced resistant peptides and improved digestibility.

Dr. Wu’s research highlighted the importance of starting with the right protein source — while processing does have an impact, composition was found to be the bigger driver of nutritional quality within the given context of the study.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Dr. van der Pols’ team incorporated nutritional considerations in their environmental impact analysis of plant- vs animal-based protein by adjusting the life cycle assessment (LCA) of different protein sources for protein quality. The results of the LCA showed that even after factoring in amino acid profile and digestibility, plant-based proteins maintained a lower greenhouse gas footprint than animal proteins. This suggests that improving plant protein quality has the potential to strengthen both their health and environmental benefits.

Building on the foundational insights of evaluating nutrition in alternative proteins, two of our speakers dove into their research on how these biofortification and industrial sidestreams can be leveraged to enhance nutrition in alternative protein sources and products.

Biofortification of staple crops to maximise nutritional benefits

Most countries in Asia rely heavily on staple crops, such as rice, which is an affordable, nutritious, and accessible option for the masses. Utilising indigenous crops like rice as alternative protein sources plays to the strengths of Asian countries, which rely on large agrarian economies and cereal-heavy diets.

Dr. Kamal Kumar Malukani, Scientist at the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), spoke about his research group’s work on enhancing the protein and micronutrient (especially iron and zinc) content of rice through biofortification techniques. While there are commonly applied agronomic practices such as microbial application (as seen in Bt cotton) and spraying of nutrients during seed development, Dr. Malukani’s research goes a step further by artificially inducing desired traits into crops to generate improved cultivars with the target nutritional value. TIGS develops new rice varieties by generating new crop varieties from parent plants, screening for desired traits (protein, iron, zinc, and glycemic index via in-vitro digestion), and identifying the genes responsible for stable, beneficial mutations. Before these variants are approved for mass cultivation, rigorous national trials are conducted by government institutes like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which screens fortified crop growth and trait expression across 30 locations for multiple years before approval. Dr. Malukani hopes to continue his work on Oryza sativa variants by aiming to improve nutrient profiles of more localised crops grown in India and reduce anti-nutrient content in unpolished rice and millets.

Leveraging industrial sidestreams as substrates to enhance nutrition

In China, Dr. Han Yan Hui, Associate Professor at Shaanxi Normal University, focuses on utilising industrial and food processing sidestreams in mycelial biomass fermentation for the production of mycoprotein with improved nutritional characteristics. Often discarded following industrial manufacturing, sidestreams resulting from sugar, beer, and tomato ketchup manufacturing, to name a few, are high-value and contain various components that can serve as nutritional ingredients for microbial feedstock (to learn more about the potential of sidestreams as feedstock, check out GFI’s sidestreams analysis report). Dr. Han highlighted that mushrooms are largely preferred as a meat alternative due to their taste and texture closely resembling meat, with mushroom mycelium yielding twice the amount of protein in dry matter compared to the fruiting body. In one study, young apple pomace used as substrates were completely utilised during fermentation by the fungal strain Schizophyllum commune. Aside from preparing meat alternatives from the mycoprotein obtained, the functionality in terms of health benefits was also explored. Bioactive peptides released via hydrolysis of the mycoprotein components showed anti-inflammatory effects, and the nanoparticles released during submerged fermentation were shown to supplement the growth of beneficial gut microbes like Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. Building on these findings, Dr. Han’s team hopes to further break down the anti-inflammatory pathways and other functional properties of these nanoparticles.

The path forward

From advanced digestion studies in Singapore and Australia to biofortified rice fields in India and sidestream-powered fermentation in China, the research showcased in this webinar series strives to make alternative proteins nutritionally robust.

The path forward requires a dual focus: advancing rigorous analysis of bioavailability and protein quality while also supporting region-specific applications that build localised resilient food systems, taking into consideration the cultural preferences, dietary needs, and resources. By directing funding and research towards projects that leverage regional strengths and align with global and national nutrition goals, we can accelerate innovation in alternative proteins that have the potential to create a more secure, sustainable, and just food system.