Despite sweet lupin, buck wheat and amaranth being nutritious and climate-smart crops, we eat them only rarely. Engineering students studying food technology at Lund University in Sweden have recently developed completely new experimental products in which those crops play a key role - and perhaps provide a clue to the range on offer in the food shops of the future.
Each year a group of students on the Master's programme in Food Technology at Lund University are given the task of developing new and innovative foodstuffs. This year, students took on protein-rich crops that can be grown in Sweden and that form a base for vegan, gluten-free and protein-rich food - foods where demand is expected to increase as a result of environmental and climate changes.
The result was an amaranth cream that can be used in sandwiches or as a "cheese" sauce, fibre-rich sweet lupin snacks and spicy dumplings made with gluten-free buck wheat dough.
Sweet lupin snack - "Lupin Tots"
Sweet lupin is rarely grown in Sweden. It is not to be confused with the poisonous invasive Lupin flower. Sweet lupin ought to be grown more here, according to several experts and the food technology students who experimented with sweet lupin beans last autumn. The protein content of the pea-sized beans is roughly the same as soya.
"It is common in Southern Europe but deals well with colder latitudes. Sweet lupin also improves the quality of the soil and is less susceptible to disease compared to other beans," says Alexandra Billett, one of the food technology students who chose to develop a new product using sweet lupines.
Ultimately, the students agreed that the beans would be best served as deep fried crispy snacks that could be bought frozen and prepared in an air fryer.
"I can imagine a vegan, protein-rich convenience product that might go well with dipping sauce, or in a salad. Compared with other fried snacks, it contains more fibre and less saturated fat, but is just as crispy," says Alexandra Billett.
As well as 60 percent sweet lupine, Lupin Tots, as the students christened the product, also contain potato and a lot of spices.
"It turned out quite spicy." Of course it's a matter of personal taste, but the beans are quite neutral in taste and benefit from adding flavour," says Alexandra Billett.
Gluten-free dumplings - "Bucklings"
Dumplings are now available in the freezer sections of most supermarkets. There is no gluten-free version though, at least not in Europe.
"We found gluten-free dumplings on specialist American websites. Those are often made from rice or potato flour, which is not as good from a nutritional point of view," says the team's project manager Johanna Bengtsson.
For that reason, Johanna Bengtsson and her course mates chose to replace the wheat flour in the dough with gluten-free buck wheat, among other things.
"Unlike wheat flour, rice flour and potato flour, the protein content is of better quality, meaning that buck wheat contains high levels of all the amino acids that the body needs.
Despite its name, buck wheat has nothing to do with wheat and is in fact more closely related to rhubarb and sorrel.
It is sometimes used in pasta, but getting it to work as dough can be challenging.
"It is very difficult to replicate those gluten threads that exist in wheat and keep the ingredients together in an elastic dough. There was a lot of experimentation," says Johanna Bengtsson.
Eventually though, they succeeded. By mixing the buck wheat with the right proportions of rice flour, chia flour, tapioca starch and psyllium seeds, the dough acquired the desired elasticity.
"It turned out really well, better, almost, than the consistency of wheat flour dough. Because of the chia flour and the psyllium seeds, the dumplings turn out darker than what people are used to.
The filling was a spicy mixture of vegetables.
Amaranth cream - "Amaranthus"
Amarant is a striking plant that would lift most floral bouquets. The myriad seeds the plant produces are also edible. Amaranth seeds are used in cooking in South America and India, but not in Europe. However, with state support, some farmers in Denmark have begun trials. Might it soon be Sweden's turn?
"Amarant seeds contain all the amino acids we humans need. They have a slightly nutty, acidic taste," says Noemi Ströhagen, one of the students who studied the Amaranth seeds more closely.
The students decided to make a firm cream that resembled a desert cheese or a spread.
"It has a mature, interesting taste that pairs well with wine. But it could also be melted to become a cheese sauce, or made fluffier to work as hummus. Perfect to offer guests when there are so many different dietary preferences to cater for. It is gluten and lactose free, hypoallergenic, vegan, healthy and rich in protein."
