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  Green peas   

Our feedstocks

Legumes, fungi and coffee residues form a mix of seasonal and year round available feedstock. A complementary mix to utilise them in a biorefinery concept.

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Peas and beans, mushroom and coffee do not only belong to different botanical families, they also differ in composition and content of specific compounds. Whilst some are rich in proteins, others contain more carbohydrates and fibres, or molecules with specific activity and function such as polyphenols, phytos­terols or chitosan.

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This also applies for the side-streams which accrue with harvesting and agro-industrial proces­sing.

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Legumes

source of proteins,
fibres, carotenoids
and phytosterols

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Fungi

source of proteins, chitosan and
beta-glucan

Coffee green beans

Coffee

source of polyphenols,
caffeine and fibres

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Annual production in Europe

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A total of 0.13 mill. tons of chickpeas are harvested per year (FAOSTAT, 2017)

The main producing countries are Spain, Italy and Bulgaria who supply 85%. The remaining share comes from Greece and other south-eastern European countries.

The total amount of useable residues is estimated at  13’000 tons.

Chick peas

Feedstock supplied by our partner Conserves France

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Types of residues

Chickpea residues occur after seed processing: remnants from chickpea bran, chickpea pod husks and chickpea straw may be all considered processing residues, as well as residues after rehydration and canning of dried traded chickpeas.

5-10% of the intital harvested crop become sidestreams

 

Current disposal routes

Residues are used for biogas production or animal feed. Both disposal routes are of low or now cost.

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Chickpeas nutritional composition

  • 22% protein

  • 39% carbohydrates, dominated by starch

  • 4-5% lipids

  • 20% fibres

Legumes
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Annual production in Europe

Green peas: 0.93 mill. tons

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Annual production in Europe

Green beans: 0.77 mill. tons

Green peas and green beans

Feedstock supplied by our partner Conserves France

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Types of residues

Beans and peas industrial processing by-products generally consist of non-conforming peas, skins and plant parts, especially pods still present after the field harvest.

 

Current disposal routes

Residues are used for biogas production or animal feed. Both disposal routes are of low or now cost.

 
Legumes nutritional composition

  • 20-25% of proteins in both species

  • 32-40% fibres, with green beans being more fibre-rich

  • low lipid content, around 2% in green beans

  • 37% starch in green peas whilst carbohydrates in green beans by-products occur as sugars (12%)

  • Carotenoids and phytosterol contents in peas, beans and chickpea are respectively about 35-135 mg/100g and 1.4 - 2.4 mg/100g of fresh weight.

Annual production in Europe

The European green peas and green beans production amounts to 1.7 mill. tons per year (FAOSTAT, 2017).

It is brought about by a number of European countries, with Spain, France and the UK leading. the geographical spread is broad and quite some countries grow both legumes.

Assuming 12-14% loss, the associated agro-waste side stream is estimated at around 200'000 tons per year.

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Annual production in Europe
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The European mushroom production amounts to 1.29 mill. tons per year (FAOSTAT, 2017).

It is dominated by Poland and The Netherlands that together account for 46 %. Spain, the UK, France, Germany and Italy contribute another 40%.

The average waste ratio of the mushroom industry is ranging between 5 to 20% of fresh weight and can be projected at  60’000 – 200’000 tons per year.

Fungi

Feedstock supplied by our partner Pleurette

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Types of residues

Sidestreams to be considered PROLIFIC include, non-compliant, broken or spotted fungi, processing cuttings, left overs and mycelium of

  • Paris champignon (Agaricus bisporus),

  • Shiitake (Lentinus edodes),

  • Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus),

Residues can make up between 5% to 15 % of the harvested produce, depending on the cultivation method and type of fungi.

 

Current disposal routes

Residues cannot easily be valorised as biogas or feed due to contamination with growth substrate. They are thus composted – for a considerable disposal fee.

 
Fungi nutritional composition

  • 20-25% of proteins,

  • 2-3% of lipids,

  • 8-12% ash

  • 30-300 g/kg of dry matter soluble and insoluble fibres (chitin/chitosan and b-glucans)

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Fungi
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Annual import to Europe
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A total of 3.9 mill. tons of green coffee beans are imported and processed further in Europe (FAOSTAT, 2017)

Germany and Italy account for 47 % of this amount. Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands and the UK contribute 6-8% each

Estimates for side-streams:

156’000 tons per year of Coffee Silver skin: assuming up to 4.2 % of the raw material.

Coffee green beans and coffee silverskin

Supplied by our partner Illy caffè

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Type of residues

Coffee producers usually roast green coffee. During this process several by-products are produced. And even before, non-compliant green coffee beans may get separated out during quality control.

During the roasting process itself, the fine integument that covers and protects the external layer of the coffee seed flakes off as so-called coffee silverskin. This is estimated to be about 1-4% of the processed green coffeee.

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Current disposal routes

To date, CGB by-products are passed on to the lower price coffee segment. However, CSS is being disposed. Due to its fibre richness recycling in the paper sector, e.g. for napkins has been explored

 
CSS chemical  composition

  • 70-79% of dietary fibre (15% soluble fibre), cellulose and hemicellulose (around 15%),

  • 5% of fat

  • 0.9% caffeine

  • 0.6% polyphenolic compounds

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Coffee
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