After years of development, technology start-up Plasma Nutrition has launched ioPea Protein, which it says is the first pea protein nutritionally comparable to whey protein in terms of bioavailability. The new launch is also nearly three times as bioavailable as a standard pea protein. The company highlights that the environmentally conscious, plant-based protein powder, supersedes central challenges in the pea protein space, such as inferior nutrition and negative taste profile issues.

“ioPea Protein represents a critical shift in how we think about our ingredients and their role in nutrition. By naturally enhancing the bioavailability of plant proteins, we can create plant-based nutrition that doesn’t just look and taste like meat, but delivers comparable nutrition as well,” Chris Flynn Rozanski, Co-Founder of Plasma Nutrition, tells.

As the move toward plant-based diets continues to gather pace, interest in how athletes can thrive without consuming animal-derived foods is piqued. Although animal-based proteins provide higher quality nutrition than plant-based options, their production can be harmful to the environment. Consumers and companies alike continue to sharpen their focus on environmental sustainability.

Dairy production alone is still responsible for 3 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, Plasma Nutrition highlights. Dairy proteins have also struggled to gain adoption in Asian markets for example, where nearly 90 percent of the population is lactose intolerant. This presents a lucrative opportunity for alternatives.

“One of the major advantages for our technology is that it does not impact the taste profile and can be used across various protein suppliers. Traditional methods of bioavailability enhancement can leave a bitter taste and create functional property changes that cause problems for formulators and ultimately for consumers. With ioPea Protein, brands and consumers get better nutrition without the compromise,” Rozanski affirms.

“ioPea Protein also will allow us to bring the benefits of improved nutrition to more consumers, building on the incredible response we’ve seen with our ioWhey Protein,” Rozanski continues. Following the launch of ioWhey Protein in retailers across the US, ioPea Protein will be available to consumers in 2020.

Ingredient Optimized
Co-Founder Stephen Motosko considers this launch to be the “next major evolution” for Ingredient Optimized, the company’s ingredient processing technology. “We’ve developed this technology as a platform for nutrition innovation, not just as a single product. Our focus on building a clean, natural solution to enhance nutrition was designed to transform the way consumers engage with their food. The debut of ioPea Protein is a major milestone toward that goal,” he says.

As a market-pioneering technology platform, Ingredient Optimized has been in the making for more than five years. “We surround ourselves with experts and remain focused on our core competencies as a company: technology and scientific differentiation. Once we were able to break through with ioWhey Protein, we knew that additional applications like ioPea Protein would be soon to follow,” Motosko also tells.

Ingredient Optimized includes a specifically-designed hardware platform and a food transformation process, touted as significantly improving the bioavailability of whey protein. An earlier US study shows that using the company’s technology, ioWhey Protein is more bioavailable than hydrolyzed whey protein. The study demonstrates a 58 percent increase in leucine absorption and 60 percent increase in absorption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) – including leucine, isoleucine and valine.

While consumer demand for high-quality, environmentally conscious products surges, corporate profitability within the sustainability trend can be a difficult path to navigate. “Our focus on sustainability is a core mission for the company and goes beyond a focus on corporate profitability. It is important that we innovate with products that do not just improve nutritional outcomes, but also create a food ecosystem ready for the challenges of the next 50 years and beyond,” Motosko concludes.