The growing demand for convenient, nutritious and environmentally sustainable foods is driving innovation in the plant-based food sector. Consumers increasingly look for products that offer clear health benefits while also supporting more sustainable food production systems.

As part of the Sustain-a-bite project, the Sustainable Food System Research Group at University College Cork has developed a novel plant-based beverage that is rich in protein and high in dietary fibre.

Combining plant-based ingredients

The beverage is made using three minimally processed ingredients: faba bean, barley and apple pomace.

Faba bean and barley provide dietary fibre and protein. By combining a legume with a cereal, the formulation aims to achieve a more complete amino acid profile.

The ingredients are treated using minimal-processing techniques such as germination, pulsed electric fields and sonication. These technologies help unlock nutritional and functional compounds from the plant materials, while also supporting product quality, stability and sensory properties.

Giving new value to apple pomace

A key element of the beverage is the inclusion of apple pomace, a side stream from the juice industry.

Although it is often underused, apple pomace contains dietary fibre, polyphenols and other bioactive compounds. Its incorporation into the beverage helps transform a low-value by-product into a functional food ingredient.

This approach supports circular economy principles and contributes to reducing food-industry losses and waste.

Supporting more sustainable food systems

The research carried out by University College Cork shows how sustainable ingredient selection and innovative processing technologies can be combined to create a new generation of plant-based beverages.

By combining legumes and cereals and by valorising a food-industry by-product, the beverage brings together nutritional quality, resource efficiency and technological innovation within a single product concept.

“The project demonstrates how minimally processed plant-based ingredients and food-industry side streams can contribute to more sustainable food systems.”