Plantible Foods is creating plant-based protein made of aquatic plant lemna, commonly known as duckweed, which is neutral in colour and taste and has the characteristics of an egg white. Plantible says that they are “on a mission to revolutionize the food industry by harnessing the power of the humble, awe-inspiring lemna to create the world’s best plant-based protein.”
The California-based company has designed an agricultural solution to control the growth of lemna, producing a stable supply of the plant grown in a food safe environment. Lemna is a high-yielding plant which naturally doubles its biomass every 48 hours, which makes possible for it to be harvested on a daily basis. Due to this rapid growth, lemna naturally contains high content of complete protein and it’s more digestible than other plant-based proteins, such as pea or rice.
Plantible Foods is currently growing their supply on two acres of land in contained and covered ponds and they are working on an extensive expansion within the next two years. They are also looking into developing ways to incorporate lemna into new food formulations.
