Name: Ute Weisz

Job title: Professor of Plant Proteins and Nutrition

Organisation: Technical University of Munich

Alternative protein specialism: Plant-based

A researcher investigating new ways of turning underused crops into tasty and nutritious products says far more work will be needed to unleash these foods’ potential.

Professor Ute Weisz leads research projects at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) into processing raw materials such as legumes and oilseeds to develop tailor-made functional ingredients.

Her work explores a wide range of areas including the protein composition of these crops and how they can be made more digestible by reducing the presence of antinutrients – naturally occurring compounds that help protect plants from predators but can have antinutritive effects in humans.

She says each step in a bean or seed’s journey from field to plate will have an important impact on how it adds taste, texture or other properties to a final product, and the fledgling plant-based sector needs to play catch-up. While decades of research have taken place exploring the science of milk and meat, work to unpick the mechanisms taking place within protein crops is only just beginning.

She brings a lifetime of food technology experience to answer this question. After completing a PhD at the University of Hohenheim, Ute moved to the Fraunhofer Institute of Processing Engineering and Packaging where she led early research into extracting protein from lupins – a legume commonly grown around the Mediterranean. 

When plant-based products began to enter the German market in the late 2010s, she used her knowledge to help spin out five companies including plant-based meat and seafood company Endori and plant-based egg startup Neggst before returning to academia.

Opportunities for farmers

Now holding the position as professor of plant proteins and nutrition, her research focuses on looking into the potential of underused crops such as mung beans – work that will be crucial as few of the world’s plant protein sources have been rigorously explored and which she hopes could provide new opportunities for farmers. 

“Farmers need assurances if they are going to switch to growing protein crops,” she says. “This is an opportunity to demonstrate their potential and engage with farmers, helping them see the value.”

She says hemp is another crop with underexplored potential. While the cultivation of hemp with close to no levels of THC (the psychoactive compound found in cannabis) has been legal in Germany for several decades, the crop is still only planted in relatively small quantities, mainly for its stem which is used to make rope.

Ute is investigating ways of extracting protein from the seeds – enhancing the opportunities presented by a crop well-suited to the warmer and more humid conditions northern Europe is likely to experience in coming decades.  

Another aspect of the research looks into how processing techniques can impact the protein extracted from sunflower press cakes – a byproduct left over after oil has been pressed from the kernel and often fed to animals, but which can be upcycled as a plant-based meat ingredient.

“The amount of agricultural land we have will decrease in the future because of climate change,” she says. “We have to be very careful about how we use each hectare – we should develop processes so there are no byproducts left over and we get as much raw material as possible for human consumption.”

A better understanding of how plant-based ingredients affect final products will also benefit the food industry, and she hopes the findings of a study she recently coordinated as part of the government-funded NewFoodSystems project will help address this problem.

The researchers investigated the properties of dozens of plant-based ingredients and have published initial data but plan to go further by releasing an open-access database containing detailed information and serving as a resource for startups developing new products.

Tackling the ultra-processed foods question

As consumers grow increasingly concerned about perceived issues with ultra-processed foods, Ute believes scientists can play an important role in shaping the public debate by conducting studies showing how new techniques and processes can improve food quality – such as making food safer, helping it last longer and improving its nutritional value.

Researchers can also help develop a better way of classifying foods, potentially replacing the Nova system, established to measure levels of processing but criticised by some for treating diverse groups of foods in the same way. 

Looking to the future, she says that to boost Germany’s scientific potential, more large-scale projects enabling researchers and industry to collaborate will be needed, such as NewFoodSystems, which included alternative proteins as one area in which a smart bioeconomy could help transform the food system.

She is encouraged to see that many of the students she speaks to are fascinated by topics such as plant-based meat and fermentation – in sharp contrast to the declining numbers enrolling on food technology programmes – and is curious to see if focusing on alternative proteins may help institutions revitalise the wider field. 

Ute has this advice for young researchers: “Stay curious, motivated and engaged, and be collaborative – it’s important to build up a large network and be interested in working on interdisciplinary approaches.”

Are you interested in getting involved in the science of plant-based food, cultivated meat and fermentation? Take a look at our resources or check out our science page.

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