Potatoes: Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew… or use them to grow animal protein

In Israel, PoLoPo has unveiled SuperAA, a plant molecular farming platform to grow egg protein ovalbumin in potatoes, after raising $2.3 million in 2023.

Vegconomist reports that PoLoPo looks to use potatoes as living factories for cruelty-free, lower cost, and more sustainable production of the proteins. Target markets include nutrition applications, such as protein powder. .

 “The SuperAA platform… leverages [potato’s] natural productivity and storage organs to grow proteins that are identical to protein derived from a chicken’s egg,” PoLoPo CEO Maya Sapir-Mir told the outlet.

PoLoPo developed the technology using metabolic engineering. Once the potatoes reach a certain size, the proteins can be extracted for dried to a powder.

 “The high-scale production of proteins in plants via molecular farming has the potential to economically transform not only potato farming and processing, but broader agriculture and agtech, for a more resilient and sustainable food system,” Sapir-Mir adds.