New pea and canola protein blends from Burcon boast protein quality that challenges meat and dairy

Burcon peas and Peazazz, courtesy of Burcon NutraScience Corporation 

Burcon NutraScience Corporation (Vancouver, British Columbia) released new pea-protein and canola-protein blends called Nutratein-PS and Nutratein-TZ. Nutratein-PS, a blend of the firm’s proprietary Peazazz pea protein and Supertein canola protein, is ideal for fortifying dairy alternative beverages such as almond milk or formulating beverages with a nutritional value consistent with cow’s milk. Nutratein-TZ, a blend of Burcon’s proprietary Peazac pea protein and Puratein canola protein, is well-suited from the formulation of plant-based meat products, and even has a Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) that exceed that of beef. PDCAAS is the accepted method by FDA, FAO, and WHO for evaluating the nutritional quality of a protein, with the highest possible score of 1.0, which Burcon’s blends achieve.

“Burcon’s novel and proprietary pea and canola proteins have exciting applications in numerous food and beverage products,” said Johann F. Tergesen, Burcon’s president and chief executive officer, in a press release. “The ability to blend Burcon’s unique pea and canola proteins to create nutritionally unparalleled plant protein combinations in our Nutratein product family, while preserving the highly desirable functional properties the proteins naturally possess, will give us a true competitive advantage, marking a key pillar of our leadership strategy in the rapidly growing plant protein market worldwide.”

In addition, Burcon has entered into a joint venture partnership with an investor group to build a new C$65 million pea protein and canola protein commercial production facility in Western Canada. The new facility is planned to initially process approximately 20,000 tons of peas per year starting in mid-2020 to produce Burcon’s Peazazz, Peazac, Supertein, and Puratein proteins. Through the joint venture, Burcon has established a new operating entity called Burcon Functional Foods Corporation, which will own and operate the facility, and has entered into a licensing agreement with Burcon for the production, sale, and distribution of the firm’s pulse proteins.

“Having the capacity to produce both our unique pea proteins, as well as our canola proteins, in our own production facility is a key pillar of our differentiation strategy,” explains Tergeson. “The ability to blend our pea and canola proteins to create nutritionally unparalleled plant protein combinations, while preserving the highly desirable functional properties the proteins naturally possess, will give us a true competitive advantage.  We look forward to offering our pea and canola protein products to customers and consumers in Canada, North America and worldwide.”