From October 7-10, 2024, the 2nd National Legume Congress held in Leipzig, Germany was hosted by the newly established "Competence Center Proteins of the Future," formerly known as the "Protein Plant Strategy Office" of the BLE, in collaboration with the Legume Expert Forum of DAFA. The BMEL’s protein plant strategy is currently evolving into a comprehensive protein strategy. Since spring 2024, workshops and discussions with stakeholders across the value chain have focused on plant-based protein sources, particularly legumes, as well as algae, mushrooms, and nuts. These discussions emphasize innovative and established processing technologies. The BMEL protein strategy is set to be published in spring 2025, providing a guiding framework for the work of the "Competence Center for Proteins of the Future" at BLE.


At the conference, the DIL Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e.V. presented its research on the "Utilization of the lupine hull as a by-product of protein production from an LCA perspective," led by Abbigel Sadhu from the Food Data Group under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sergiy Smetana. The processing of legumes for protein production leads to environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, resource depletion, and land use changes. During processing, by-products are produced, which can be utilized in various ways. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) offer valuable insights into strategies that minimize negative environmental impacts and enhance sustainability in legume processing.
This work is part of the four-year ‘LegumES’ project (2024-2027, ID 1011355129), funded by HORIZON EUROPE. The project involves 22 partners across the EU and focuses on optimizing the ecosystem services provided by legumes and legume-based cropping systems. It aims to create practical methods and tools to monitor and harmonize the benefits of legume crops, legume-based rotations, and wild legumes in semi-natural ecosystems.
Prof. Dr. Sergiy Smetana, Janos-Istvan Petrusan, and Abbigel Sadhu from DIL’s Food Data Group are organizing a series of multi-actor workshops to pinpoint key strategic development areas for the legume value chain. They are also conducting Consequential Life Cycle Assessments (cLCA) of legume crops and value chains. This approach aims to assess the environmental impacts of integrating legume crops into value chains and replacing animal-based proteins with legume-based alternatives.