Lupin Loop: Driving the Future of Sustainable Protein

🌾 Why Lupin Matters

Lupin is an underused crop with massive potential. Thanks to its high-quality protein—comparable to soy and superior to peas and beans— it is being recognized as a serious alternative to imported soya in both animal feed and human food.

Diversifying protein sources is not only key for food security, but also for achieving net-zero climate goals. Unlike soy, lupins are well-adapted to the climates of the UK and Canada, making them a promising local solution to reduce dependency on imports.

 

🔬 What the Lupin Loop Project Will Do

This project is designed to:

Optimize agronomic traits for lupin cultivation in the UK and Canada.

Extract and utilize key components of the crop (proteins, lipids, and fibres).

Develop lupin-based ingredients to be used in food products tailored for UK/Europe and North America.

By strengthening the lupin supply chain and supporting its adoption, the project could transform the plant-based protein sector.

 

🌍 The Bigger Picture: Why Now?

The UK imports over 3.5 million tonnes of soy every year, much of it from Brazil. This contributes to deforestation and significant carbon emissions.

Lupin offers a homegrown, sustainable alternative.

 

🧪 How the Research Works

The Lupin Loop project combines traditional field trials with next-generation tools like gene editing to improve lupin traits such as:

Herbicide tolerance

Pod-shattering resistance

Adaptability to low-nutrient soils

At the same time, life cycle analyses are being conducted to confirm that swapping soy for lupin would result in a lower carbon footprint.

 

🚜 Challenges and Opportunities

Growing lupin in the UK isn’t without hurdles. Weather variability has created unstable yields, particularly in heavy clay soils. However, trials show that even in northern England, white lupins can thrive.

Another key challenge is farmer adoption. Despite the crop’s potential, only ~2,000 acres are grown annually in the UK, mostly for livestock. As McNaughton notes:

“We have the varieties, we have the agronomy, and we have the economics—but we just don’t have the market.”

 

🌟 Planned Impacts

By the end of the project, Lupin Loop aims to deliver:

Optimized cultivation practices for Canada and the UK.

Sweet, alkaloid-free lupin flour.

A wide portfolio of lupin-derived ingredients (proteins, fibres, lipids).

Region-specific food applications, targeting both human and animal nutrition.

 

💡 Why Lupin Could Change the Game

 

If successful, this initiative will help reduce the UK’s reliance on imported soy, while providing a nutrient-rich, climate-friendly crop. With backing from leading partners in both agriculture and biotechnology, lupin has the potential to become a cornerstone of sustainable protein production.

Partners of the project include:  SoyaUK, BioPower Technologies, UK Agri-Tech Centre, Lupin Platform, NRC Canada

Source: University of Leeds School of Food Science and Nutrition