Wheat is one of the most important food sources in the world. Most of it is ground into flour and processed into bread, noodles, instant noodles and other foods. However, global warming has brought a major crisis to wheat production. According to the research of Science magazine in 20 1 1 year, since 1980s, global wheat production has decreased by 5.5% due to climate change. The magazine Natural Climate Change pointed out in 20 14 that every time the global temperature rises 1 degree, the wheat yield will decrease by 6%.
At present, the global population is rising, and the food crisis is no joke. In this regard, many scientists have invested in breeding research to cultivate wheat varieties that are more resistant to high temperature and drought; Some people are actively looking for wheat substitutes to reduce their dependence on wheat. NamZ, a Singapore food technology startup, is one of them. It is using what they call "future crops" as raw materials to redesign foods, including NoodleZ, a brand-new instant noodle that took five years to create.
Three conditions of "future crops": strong adaptability, rich nutrition and large-scale planting!
"Today's food system leads to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other problems. We eat foods that contain a lot of calories but lack nutrition. Christoph Langwallner, co-founder of NamZ, said that in addition, the lack of sustainable agricultural methods also destroyed the ecology. He believes that considering the rapid change of global climate, agricultural biodiversity is the road to sustainable development.
Therefore, the raw material selection of "NoodleZ" instant noodles produced by NamZ gives priority to sustainable development and adopts "crops that can adapt to the future". What is the future crop? Christoph Langwallner explained that the basic standard of these crops is that they must have strong adaptability, and they can also grow on land with poor resources, with low water footprint and rich nutrition, and are large-scale cash crops.
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At present, the raw materials for future crops used by NoodleZ include: Bambara bean, Moringa oleifera, lupine, pumpkin, tomato, cocoa and other common fruits and vegetables. Take Bambara bean as an example, it is a native crop in sub-Saharan Africa, and it has strong tolerance, even in the case of drought and completely barren land, it can have a reasonable yield. Moringa oleifera also has good adaptability, even called "miracle tree", which has high nutritional value and can survive in semi-arid or tropical humid areas with excessive rainfall.
Sustainable and healthier! Patented technology can dehydrate noodles without frying.
In addition to sustainable development, making food healthier is also one of NamZ's goals. Traditional instant noodles can only be preserved for a long time after frying and dehydration, but they are often considered unhealthy because of high temperature frying and high sodium content. In order to reverse this phenomenon, NoodleZ uses patented technology, which can dehydrate noodles without frying, reducing its oil content by 70% and saturated fat by 82%.
In addition, they are developing a more protein-rich version. It is said that compared with traditional noodles, protein content increased by 1.36%, dietary fiber increased by 83%, and oil content also decreased.
As taste is a key factor affecting consumers, NamZ also claimed that they conducted a blind test and found that participants could not tell the difference between "NoodleZ" and traditional instant noodles.
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It will be launched in Singapore and Malaysia in early 2020.
20 1 1/kloc-0+20091October, NamZ became one of the nine enterprises in the social enterprise funding scheme of DBS Bank Foundation, which will provide S $50,000 to S $250,000 (about NT$11, This has also accelerated the development of "NoodleZ" to improve the productivity of the factory. It is expected that in early 2020, it will take the lead in launching products with different flavor and fragrance combinations in Singapore and Malaysia.
Under the influence of climate change, many crops are actually deeply affected, resulting in a decline in food production. Under the impact of globalization, the food industry obviously can't follow the old rules and needs to be prepared for the big environment and future changes. The idea of NoodleZ replacing wheat with future crops is worth learning by more people, regardless of the market effect.
FoodNEXT authorized to reprint the original source. Global warming leads to reduced wheat production! Singapore start-ups make instant noodles with "future crops"