Singapore foodtech firm Life3 Biotech, NUS to research new plant-based meat products

National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering and Life3 Biotech signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly research on incorporating electrospinning in food technology.

Electrospinning is traditionally used to produce thin fibers for protective masks. But the NUS-Life 3 partnership is eyeing the feasibility of using the same tech to make food-grade, plant-based proteins that can mimic the “bite” of a fish fillet and meat jerky products.

The team behind the partnership: (from left) Subramanian Sundarrajan and Seeram Ramakrishna, faculty members of the NUS Department of Engineering, together with Life3 Biotech CEO and founder Ricky Lin and Theng De Sheng, the company’s head of applied research for product development / Photo credit: Life3

Life3 is the creator of Veego, a plant-based food product, and Peasy, a pea-based protein. The foodtech space in Asia is expected to rise in the coming years after players got US$2.1 billion in investments in 2020.

The challenge, however, lies in sourcing alternative proteins and processing them to be more appealing. Electrospinning tech is touted to have lower carbon footprint in producing faux meat or meat substitutes that new users can easily accept in their diet.

Electrospun legume-based isolates up close / Photo credit: Life3

“The foodtech industry has huge potential to revolutionize the way we view nourishment,” noted Seeram Ramakrishn, director of the Centre for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology at NUS.

He added that their first trial with Life3 already yielded a better understanding of how fibrous structures are formed through different plant proteins through electrospinning.

The joint study’s final phase will explore upscaling the technology to make it commercially viable to use in food manufacturing. Ricky Lin, CEO and founder of Life3 Biotech, said that they are looking at using electrospinning for future products.