What happens to nutrients after harvest?
This is the question that sits at the heart of one of Europe’s biggest food challenges: how to produce more plant-based protein, with less environmental impact, and with full transparency from field to fork.
The VALPRO Path project is tackling that challenge head-on by developing a nutrient tracking tool designed to follow protein-rich crops across the entire supply chain – from cultivation and processing to final food products. This is not just about measuring protein. It’s about understanding how nutrients flow, where value is created, and where inefficiencies occur. The goal is to develop and optimise healthier, more sustainable food products made from plant proteins.
Starting in the Field
In Ireland, researchers at Teagasc cultivated faba bean- a crop known for its high protein content and agronomic advantages.
Faba bean naturally enriches soil through nitrogen fixation, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers. It performs well under Irish pedoclimatic conditions and supports both feed and food sectors. Beyond farming, it offers raw material for a growing plant-protein ingredient industry, supplying concentrates and isolates suitable for nutritious, environmentally responsible food products. But growing the crop is only the first step.
The key question is: what happens to its nutrients along the way?
Measuring Environmental Impact Along the Value Chain
In parallel, scientists at the National Technical University of Athens conducted a full life cycle assessment of the crop and its processing stages.
Every input was tracked. Every stage was evaluated.
This allowed the team to identify environmental hotspots, assess sustainability performance, and compare outcomes with more traditional food products. The result is a detailed picture of both economic and environmental impacts across the value chain.
From Raw Crop to Functional Ingredient
The harvested faba beans were processed into high-quality protein concentrates and isolates. These ingredients can be used in applications such as high-protein bars and beverages – products increasingly in demand across Europe.
Yet processing changes nutrient distribution. Protein, starch and fibre are separated, concentrated or redirected into co-products. Until now, these flows have been difficult to quantify systematically.
The Nutrient Tracking Tool
To address the abovementioned gap, VALPRO Path developed a nutrienet- tracking tool that quantifies nutrient flows at each stage of production and processing.
The tool measures protein and other macronutrients – including starch and fibre – as they move through the system. It enables producers and processors to:
- Optimise yields
- Reduce inefficiencies
- Test alternative processing scenarios
- Improve predictability of ingredient performance
- Identify valuable co-products
Crucially, the system allows stakeholders to simulate different decisions at key points –cultivation methods, processing configurations, or end-product applications – and assess both sustainability and economic implications before implementation.
Why It Matters
Plant-protein production is expanding rapidly, but expansion doesn’t guarantee sustainability. Scaling requires precision.
By combining agronomic data, life cycle assessment and nutrient modelling, VALPRO Path is creating a decision-support framework that connects farmers, processors and food manufacturers.
The outcome is greater transparency, improved sustainability performance and better-informed choices across the value chain.
In short, the nutrient tracking tool does not simply follow protein. It reveals how value moves through the system – and how it can be maximised without increasing environmental cost.
For a food system under pressure to deliver both nutrition and sustainability, that insight could prove transformative. It enables stakeholders to pinpoint inefficiencies, optimise resource use, and design products that are both healthier for consumers and lighter on the planet. By making invisible flows visible, VALPRO Path turns complex data into actionable strategies, helping plant-protein supply chains grow smarter, more resilient, and genuinely sustainable.
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