Plant proteins a meaty prospect for experts

With food security high on nation's agenda, agronomists explore how to feed nation without relying upon imported grain

Developing plant-based and cell-based meat to partly substitute the protein people get from animals is a helpful way to reduce grain imports and ensure national food security, experts said.

Chinese people have increased needs for food protein and have been changing their way of consumption from merely animal meat to using both animal and plant-based meat, an agronomist with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences said.

Wang Fengzhong, director of the academy's Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, said people's increasing demands of food protein have resulted in the country's reliance on soybean imports.

Last year, China imported 96.5 million metric tons of soybean, accounting for 85.5 percent of total consumption. Wang said about 22 percent of the imported soybean was used in food oil while the rest was consumed as animal fodder.

People ingest animal protein by eating meat. So using soybean and pea protein, as well as artificially synthesized protein, as substitutes of animal protein can greatly reduce the country's need for animal feed and thus cut down on grain imports, Wang said.