The Protein of the Future Might Be Made Out of Air

The past two decades have witnessed increasing innovation in alternative protein sources in the search for a more sustainable food system to support a rapidly growing global population. Plant-based meat companies like Beyond Meat have made plays to replace burgers, brands have explored protein powder made from insects, and efforts to develop lab-grown meat have faced backlash.

Not every sustainable protein source checks all the boxes that consumers and the environment need. One might taste great but be overly processed, or come from plants but cause deforestation by way of mass production. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of all is finding something that actually appeals to consumers, who are often put off by the flavor of meat alternatives. But there’s a new protein option in the sustainable food landscape that hopes to solve all these issues — and it isn’t made from plants or animals. Instead, it’s crafted with air.

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Solein is a product that markets itself as “protein out of thin air,” but if you’re imagining eating bites of literally nothing, that’s not quite the case. In reality, this powdered, mustard-colored substance comes from a naturally occurring, single-cell microbe that feeds on air. For anyone unfamiliar, microbes are microscopic living organisms, and there are billions of them all around us. They’re naturally found in air, water, and on human skin, to name just a few places. (Bacteria or algae are some types of microbes you might be more familiar with.)

Solar Foods, the Finnish food technology company that discovered this specific microbe and developed it for consumption, refers to the cultivation of Solein as “fermentation.”

Solar Foods co-founder and CEO Pasi Vainikka explains that “Solein is produced in a fermentor akin to the ones used in breweries and wineries… In the fermentor, we feed the microbe like you would feed a plant, but instead of watering and fertilizing it, we use mere air and electricity as the main resources. The microbe is fed carbon dioxide that can be gotten from air, and hydrogen, which we split from water using renewable electricity.” This fermentation process produces a thick liquid, which is then treated with heat and dried to yield a yellow powder. This is the final form of Solein that Solar Foods hopes to eventually bring to the masses.

Unlike plants or animals, Solein doesn’t require arable land to grow. Its production is much more efficient than that of other proteins, requiring fewer resources. This eliminates or reduces many of agriculture's environmental issues, such as deforestation, large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions, and reliance on extreme amounts of food and water.

"Based on a lifecycle analysis study by the University of Helsinki, Solein's environmental impact is about 10% of most plant-based proteins and about 1% of meat."

Pasi Vainikka

According to Vainikka, “Producing Solein uses 100 times less water than plant protein production. Land use of Solein is 20 times more efficient than for plant protein production,” and “Based on a lifecycle analysis study by the University of Helsinki, Solein's environmental impact is about 10% of most plant-based proteins and about 1% of meat.” As long as there is a ready source of renewable energy, Solein can be created with a much smaller environmental impact than even plant-based protein options.

Luckily, the protein content of Solein is comparable to many other protein powders out there. A hundred grams of Solein contains 75 grams of protein, while 100 grams of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein Powder (one of the most common brands available) has about 78.95 grams of protein. So you don't have to consume notably more Solein to acquire the same protein value as other products.

As someone who cares a lot about how my food tastes, what strikes me the most about Solein is its taste — or rather, the lack of it. The yellow powder has very little flavor or aroma, unlike many common protein powders that impart a chalky and bitter profile to whatever they’re mixed into.

I tasted several dishes that incorporated Solein last November, all prepared by Greg Baxtrom, a James Beard Award semi-finalist and the chef-owner of 2017 Food & Wine Restaurant of the Year, Olmsted. Undoubtedly due in equal parts to Baxtrom’s skill and the neutral flavors of Solein, each of the foods I sampled — ranging from the chef’s famous carrot crepe to a classic chocolate mousse — was flawlessly executed and delicious, with the flavor profile unaltered by the protein powders.

What might be the most challenging facet of Solein is how it behaves chemically in foods. It might look and feel like another protein powder, but it doesn’t always act like them when combined with wet ingredients. Vainikka says, “We have been discovering different methods to use Solein, and sometimes it works exactly like existing protein sources, and sometimes it has completely different functionalities. For example, Solein can form a gel in the presence of an acid, which makes it a useful ingredient in products like alternative yogurt and cheese.”

This unpredictability means that chefs can’t necessarily substitute Solein for other ingredients in the way they might expect, and Baxtrom had to experiment with the powder first in order to produce the final results he wanted.

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Because consumers might not be able to scoop Solein into their shakes the exact same way they would with other protein powders, it might be challenging to market it directly to individuals — at least without also providing education on how to use it. But this powder grown on air does present a new opportunity for packaged food brands, who can use it to add protein to products that are lacking in nutritional value.

And on the opposite end of the food spectrum, innovative chefs like Baxtrom can continue playing with Solein to learn more about the power of this new protein.

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