Alternative Sources of Plant Protein in Southeast Asia

Martin Semrád

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

This thesis is focused on alternative plant protein sources in Southeast Asian countries. The work is aimed towards finding underutilised or neglected plant species that are primarily rich in protein and secondarily rich in micronutrients in order to improve food security in Southeast Asian countries and mitigate the global warming crisis around the world. The Southeast Asian countries are considered: Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The introductory part of the work informs about how the key is protein consumption for human nutrition, how the proteins are composed and whether plants can provide a sufficient amount of protein and amino acids. The second part describes an overview of the studied area – climate, vegetation, agriculture, eating habits and climate crisis concentrated on food production in Southeast Asia. The third part focuses on a total of 53 underutilised or neglected plant species that could be used as a supplement to regularly use or substitute for overused crops as a valuable source of protein intake. The summary table was arranged to give basic information about the plants in terms of name (Latin, English, local), family, edible parts, protein content per 100g of given plant part, processing, and interest for which this plant species was chosen. The plant species belonged to a total of 23 different families; the most predominant families were Fabaceae (37.7 %), Amaranthaceae (9.4 %), and Poaceae (7.5 %). In the last section, six species, namely: Terminalia catappa Linn., Vigna umbellata Thunb., Parkia speciosa L., Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L., Tamarindus indica L. were selected based on underutilisation, its potential to become more frequently used crop, and at least 20 % protein content of its mass. In this section, botany, ecology and cultivation, nutritional values, and mode of use of these plants were described in detail.

Keywords

plant proteins, Alternative protein sources, Southeast Asia, nutrition, neglected, underutilised

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 18. 4. 2023

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Iva Kučerová, Ph.D.
• Reader: Olga Leuner, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Bachelor programme:
International Cooperation in Agricultural and Rural Development