Israeli company Hinoman will launch Mankai, a vegetable whole-protein ingredient with high nutritional value, at IFT, Chicago, US from July 11 to 14, 2015.
Mankai is an aquacultured source of vegetable protein, which is a native of Southeast Asia and popular in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
The company’s hydroponic technology enables the plant to grow the product faster, and in large quantities, without pesticides, while guaranteeing a high protein content of at least 45% by dry weight.
“Mankai is a whole protein vegetable. Using technology, we want to produce healthier foods and farm based on the changes in agriculture around the world, such as high automation, round the clock analysis and management, low manpower requirement,” Udi Alroy, VP of marketing and business development told Food News International during a press tour in Israel this month.
“Farmers are growing older in Japan, China, and the US. We want to enable young people to farm in a high technological way.”
High technology cultivation
The Hinoman team invested eight years in research and development to create the sustainable strain and cultivation method for year-round harvest of the ingredient.
This cultivation method produces reliable and consistent nutrient levels, meeting ‘free-from’ requirements and enabling a clean label.
Using technology, the vegetable is harvested in 10 days from growth in a body of water.
It requires a small footprint and can be grown indoors or outdoors.
“Due to a very sensitive growing mechanism, we must have 24/7 control of the growth. We use remote controls and technologies to service, maintain and optimize, via computerization, of all the farming process,” says Alroy.
To manage and treating the water, sensors are used to monitor the state of growth and quality of the water.
“We do not need to use pesticides, even though it is not a closed environment. We are already in the process of applying for the product as generally recognized as safe status in the US.”
“We are looking to manufacture the crop around the world, which is either through franchising for huge expansion of the technology or for us to own the farms,” he says.
Protein-packed vegetable
Mankai is the world’s smallest vegetable—0.5 mm (less than 1/5 inch), which as be easily incorporated in its natural form into food or beverage applications.
“The Mankai plant boasts the closest protein profile to animal protein,” explains Alroy.
Protein quality depends on digestibility, amino acid profile and content.
A high-quality protein contains all the essential amino acids (those the body must source externally), with a high proportion of the branched chain amino acids.
Mankai is rich in vitamins A and E, the B vitamins, plus minerals and fatty acids.
“With its high Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score rate of digestibility—0.89—it is more potent than super vegetables, such as spinach, spirulina and kale,” says CEO Ron Salpeter.
“Mankai has a light vegetal flavor, superior to algae-derived ingredients in the market.”
Hinoman develops and cultivates Mankai, a proprietary nutrient-rich super vegetable protein, using sustainable hydroponics system.
