Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees
In the event of an abrupt sunlight reduction scenario, there is a time window that occurs between when food stores would likely run out for many countries (~6 months or less) and ~1 year when resilient foods are scaled up. A promising temporary resilient food is leaf protein concentrate (LPC). Altho...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Biomass |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8783/3/2/11 |
| _version_ | 1797596057198133248 |
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| author | Maryam Mottaghi Theresa K. Meyer Ross John Tieman David Denkenberger Joshua M. Pearce |
| author_facet | Maryam Mottaghi Theresa K. Meyer Ross John Tieman David Denkenberger Joshua M. Pearce |
| author_sort | Maryam Mottaghi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the event of an abrupt sunlight reduction scenario, there is a time window that occurs between when food stores would likely run out for many countries (~6 months or less) and ~1 year when resilient foods are scaled up. A promising temporary resilient food is leaf protein concentrate (LPC). Although it is possible to extract LPC from tree biomass (e.g., leaves and needles), neither the yields nor the toxicity of the protein concentrates for humans from the most common tree species has been widely investigated. To help fill this knowledge gap, this study uses high-resolution mass spectrometry and an open-source toolchain for non-targeted screening of toxins on five common North American coniferous species: Western Cedar, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, Western Hemlock, and Lodgepole Pine. The yields for LPC extraction from the conifers ranged from 1% to 7.5%. The toxicity screenings confirm that these trees may contain toxins that can be consumed in small amounts, and additional studies including measuring the quantity of each toxin are needed. The results indicate that LPC is a promising candidate to be used as resilient food, but future work is needed before LPCs from conifers can be used as a wide-scale human food. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:45:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d57846ccaf4643d79058b0ced2b216dd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-8783 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:45:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biomass |
| spelling | doaj.art-d57846ccaf4643d79058b0ced2b216dd2023-11-18T09:24:00ZengMDPI AGBiomass2673-87832023-05-013216318710.3390/biomass3020011Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous TreesMaryam Mottaghi0Theresa K. Meyer1Ross John Tieman2David Denkenberger3Joshua M. Pearce4Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, CanadaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USAAlliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED), Lafayette, CO 80026, USAAlliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED), Lafayette, CO 80026, USADepartment of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Ivey Business School, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, CanadaIn the event of an abrupt sunlight reduction scenario, there is a time window that occurs between when food stores would likely run out for many countries (~6 months or less) and ~1 year when resilient foods are scaled up. A promising temporary resilient food is leaf protein concentrate (LPC). Although it is possible to extract LPC from tree biomass (e.g., leaves and needles), neither the yields nor the toxicity of the protein concentrates for humans from the most common tree species has been widely investigated. To help fill this knowledge gap, this study uses high-resolution mass spectrometry and an open-source toolchain for non-targeted screening of toxins on five common North American coniferous species: Western Cedar, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, Western Hemlock, and Lodgepole Pine. The yields for LPC extraction from the conifers ranged from 1% to 7.5%. The toxicity screenings confirm that these trees may contain toxins that can be consumed in small amounts, and additional studies including measuring the quantity of each toxin are needed. The results indicate that LPC is a promising candidate to be used as resilient food, but future work is needed before LPCs from conifers can be used as a wide-scale human food.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8783/3/2/11alternative foodresilient fooddistributed productionedible plantsexistential riskfood security |
| spellingShingle | Maryam Mottaghi Theresa K. Meyer Ross John Tieman David Denkenberger Joshua M. Pearce Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees Biomass alternative food resilient food distributed production edible plants existential risk food security |
| title | Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees |
| title_full | Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees |
| title_fullStr | Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees |
| title_full_unstemmed | Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees |
| title_short | Yield and Toxin Analysis of Leaf Protein Concentrate from Common North American Coniferous Trees |
| title_sort | yield and toxin analysis of leaf protein concentrate from common north american coniferous trees |
| topic | alternative food resilient food distributed production edible plants existential risk food security |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8783/3/2/11 |
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