Four of Australia’s largest potato producers have pledged nearly $1 million to a three-year Fight Food Waste CRC project that aims to find new ways to use what would otherwise be wasted spuds.
A project focus is developing an Australian potato-starch industry; potentially netting potato producers $1,000 per tonne for extracted starch instead of the current $0-10/tonne they get for potato waste.
The researchers will also look at uses for the residual waste from the first starch extraction: another known starch component, for example, can be used to engineer low-GI foods, while potato skins contain bioactives that can be incorporated in various commercial products, including high-value nutraceuticals.
The four companies, The Mitolo Group, Zerella Fresh, Thomas Foods International Fresh Produce and The South Australian Potato Company have joined forces with industry association Potatoes South Australia and the University of Adelaide under the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), and aim to convert 100 per cent of their potato waste into profit.
Currently, around 40 per cent of all potatoes grown in Australia, or 100,000-odd tonnes annually, go to waste, while we import around 20,00
Source: Big bucks put into waste potato project I Good Fruit and Vegetables