Protein is an important part of a healthy diet, but an estimated one billion people worldwide suffer from protein deficiency. The problem is most severe in Central Africa and South Asia, where about 30 percent of children consume too little protein. Protein deficiency leads to malnutrition. Availability and accessibility of quality protein are two key factors in achieving ‘zero hunger’ in the world. In the WHO recommended healthy diet there are no guidelines on quality and quantity of protein. Many countries are yet to prepare their own guidelines. Statistics reveal that 93% of Indian population are unaware of ideal protein requirement per day with pregnant ladies on the top (97%), followed by lactating mothers (96%) and adolescents (95%). Situation in other countries is not much different.
Food security and nutrition plays a key role in Sustainable Development Goal1(SDG1) of UN: ‘zero hunger’ and elimination of all forms of malnutrition. Supplementing diet with Meal Maker Protein Powder (MMPP) is a cost- effective pathway to achieve zero hunger by 2030.
Meal maker is a by-product of soya bean oil extraction and refining process. Pulp remaining after extracting the oil from soya beans is converted into small chunks looking like small meat pieces and are often referred as vegetable meat. Meal maker is rich in proteins, 100 grams of meal maker has about 52 grams proteins, four times that of a boiled egg costing much less than four eggs.
Soya bean is one of the major crops cultivated across the world. It is grown under several weather conditions. In 2019 global production of soya bean is 334million tonnes. Approximately 85% of the world's soybean crop is processed into soya bean oil and soya bean meal. More than 95% of soya bean meal is used as animal feed. That is, about 284 million tonnes soya meal is produced in 2019, and about 270 million tonnes is used as animal feed. Increasing human consumption of meal maker is a sustainable approach to reduce protein deficiency. A small fraction of produced soya meal, that is less than10 million tonnes can provide 25 grams soya meal per day per person to 1 billion undernourished people in the world for one year.
Soya meal has a long shelf life, it can be transported from anywhere in the world to remote regions through inexpensive transport. There is no need for cold storage and rapid transport. It costs much less than other animal-based protein requiring rapid transport and cold storage facilities.
MMPP is ready to use in combination with several other food items. For example, MMPP can be added to butter or jam and used as spread, can be added to porridge ,mixed with idli/dosa batter in making protein rich breakfast, can be added to wheat flour in making protein rich bread. MMPP can be made to suit local food habits and culture of the region. MMPP can be included in various Public Distribution System (PDS) schemes including school lunch programs.
MMPP is made by powdering soya meal maker first and then dry roasting the powder. It is necssary to remove residual chemical (Hexane) used in the soyabean oil extraction process. Removal of Hexane residue from different sizes meal maker chunks requires extensive cooking. Powdering before dry roasting ensures uniform heating of meal maker.
Currently, soya meal maker is not popular amongst the house holds for two reasons. 1) Preparation of food items using meal maker are time consuming, not suitable for working days. 2) Removal of residual chemicals in the meal maker production requires extensive cooking process.
The proposed idea is tried as proof-of-concept with limited number of volunteers. Availability, accessibility and sustainability are considered in idea formation but scalability needs to be evaluated. FAO team review and FSN forum members feedback will be used in refining the idea.
Dr. C V Kameswara Rao, M. Tech, Ph.D
Information Practitioner (voluntary), 70+age group Electronics engineer with systems engineering specialisation.
Dr. Kameswararao Chiruvolu