Beer is the most consumed beverage in the world after water and tea, and beer brewing generates large amounts of grain waste, which today has a low value. But now a research project at the University of Borås, Sweden, shows how it is possible to increase the value of this by the production of food, biofuel and valuable chemicals.
Mohsen Parchami, newly awarded doctorate in Resource Recovery, has in his doctoral project investigated how to change the attitude from grain remains being regarded as waste to instead being seen as raw material for new products. Of particular interest is that it is possible to grow protein-rich, edible, filamentous fungi on the remains of the brewery waste.
"One goal of my project was to return something that comes from food production back into the same cycle. By producing this protein-rich food, one can contribute to higher safety in food production and reduce the pressure on agriculture and animal husbandry," explained Mohsen Parchami.
The fungi that were grown on the grain waste have been used as an ingredient in a recently developed food product, among other things. The project also developed a new method for pre-treating the waste to be able to separate its various constituents into, among other things, starch, protein and cellulose. All these constituents are a source of new potential uses.