Remy to introduce soluble rice protein
soluble rice protein in the first half of next year, to meet strong
demand from the beverage industry, reports Dominique Patton.
The move will increase options for manufacturers of increasingly popular non-dairy drinks, as well as sports and recovery drinks.
It will also allow cereal bar producers to up the protein content to 20 per cent in their products without causing the grainy texture left by non-soluble proteins.
Remy, a division of the Orafti group with an annual turnover of €52 million, has marketed a non-soluble rice protein, Remypro N80+, for dry food products like bread and cereal bars for some time.
The ingredient has a number of advantages over other proteins for niche food products, according to commercial director Yves Servotte.
"Rice protein is hypoallergenic, and this will be further reduced in the soluble form as allergenicity is linked to molecular weight," Servotte told NutraIngredients.com.
This gives the product an edge over milk and soy proteins, among the most frequent food allergens.
Rice derived ingredients are also GMO-free, a significant issue for soy, one of the biggest sources of non-animal proteins, and have an established reputation as a safe, nutritious crop.
The protein also has a unique nutritional profile with a 96 per cent correlation to the amino acids found in mother's milk. This has led to its use in infant formula and will generate demand for the water-soluble version too.
Remypro S10, under development for around five years, will be competitively priced alongside caseinates, claims Servotte, but will not be a commodity product.
"There are not many soluble proteins on the market," he explained, "and this one will be unique."
The protein content of rice, at around 7 per cent, is relatively low compared with that of other cereal grains, but because of the huge quantity of rice produced worldwide - approximately 400 million metric tons annually - the amount of rice protein available is significant.
