Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV
Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV
Panoramic image of the pilot plant for the production of food ingredients at Fraunhofer IVV

Pilot plant for food ingredients

Crushing – Separation – Extraction – Drying

Use our facilities for your R&D!

We offer you the use of our pilot plant facilities including specialist personnel for your development work. Of course, we also carry out contract work.

Based on raw material characterization we develop and optimize products and processes for the food industry. We adapt the production processes for food ingredients specifically to the raw materials used or to the target food product. We select the raw materials with regard to the intended use.

At our insititute all production steps of the entire processing chain from raw material to final product can be carried out. We also develop ready-to-use formulations in model food products. With our modular plant design the processing steps can be flexibly adapted to your tasks and needs.

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We cover the entire process chain at one location

Preparation of raw materials

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Process development and scale up

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Functionalization and modification of plant food ingredients

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Preparation of raw materials

Grinding and dry fractionation – 360° view

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Process development and scale up

Wet processing – 360° view

With the mouse button held down, you can move 360° virtually through our pilot plant.

With double click you get full screen mode.

Spray drying – 360° view

With the mouse button held down, you can move 360° virtually through our pilot plant.

With double click you get full screen mode.

Process development for food ingredients

Fractions obtained from lupine seed: Plant oil, pressed flakes, protein flour, protein isolate
© Ansgar Pudenz / German Future Prize
Fractions recovered from lupine seeds: Plant oil, pressed flakes, protein flour, protein isolate

Our development work focuses on the following plant raw materials: oil seeds, leguminous plants, cereals, pseudo-cereals, fruit, and vegetables as well as waste materials and secondary materials from the food industry and agricultural sector (e.g., fruits and vegetables).

Based on our extensive knowledge of plant raw materials we develop and optimize efficient methods for wet and dry fractionation. We also modify other processes for the purification (e.g., membrane methods) and stabilization (e.g., spray drying) of plant intermediate products depending on the particular customer-specific requirements.

This allows us to recover high-quality plant proteins or dietary fibers.

We transfer our expertise in the fractionation of plant-based raw materials to other raw materials for the extraction of alternative protein ingredients from fungi, algae and microorganisms. We also provide support in transferring the processes you have developed from laboratory to pilot scale.

To process raw materials, we use aqueous and solvent-based extraction processes as well as supercritical CO2 extraction processes in addition to dry seed preparation in our pilot plant mill.

Functionalization and modification of plant-based food ingredients

Enzymatic, chemical and physical methods

Addition of enzymes into a laboratory process plant to modify plant proteins enzymatically
Enzymatic modification of plant proteins in a laboratory process plant

Foods require their components to have effective functionalities. In many cases the starting property profiles of plant protein isolates,  protein concentrates and dietary fiber preparations are inadequate for these materials to be directly used in the target products. We modify and functionalize plant raw materials using gentle enzymatic, chemical, and physical methods in order to improve their application properties and reduce negative sensory attributes.

The application properties of the functionalized ingredients (e.g., solubility, emulsifying properties, foaming behavior, gel formation properties, colour and sensory characteristics) are studied in model formulations for different alternative products.

These primarily include the development of dairy product alternatives, meat alternatives, fish and seafood alternatives, as well as baked goods and foods for special dietary requirements (gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free).

 

Research projects on plant-based food ingredients

 

Project "Food ingredients made from lupine seeds"

Development of plant-based foods with lupine proteins

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Project "SmartProtein"

Future-proof alternative terrestrial protein sources

Further information

Fraunhofer lighthouse project "FutureProteins"

Research into resilient and sustainable protein sources such as algae, insects, fungi and previously unused plant-based raw materials

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Project "SmartProSun"

Extraction and evaluation of functional proteins and polyphenols from sunflower flour

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Project "Sustainable protein ingredients"

Creation of a comprehensive database of proteins in order to allow application-specific raw material selection

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