HC Deb 13 February 1968 vol 758 cc322-3W
Earl of Dalkeith

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research is being carried out by his Department to discover new forms of food supplies for human or animal consumption through processing the leaves of trees; and whether he will make a statement.

Mrs. Shirley Williams:

Research into the extraction of protein from leaves of crop plants is being carried out in the Biochemistry Department of the Rothamsted Experimental Station.

Figures for the extractability of leaf (including tree-leaf) protein from many parts of the world, are now being published. These are not strictly comparable because of differences in the techniques of grinding and pressing. Measurements of the extractability of protein from local crops are an essential prelude to any attempt to make leaf protein for use as a food in regions where there is protein deficiency.

Unexpected differences in the nutritional value of protein preparations have been found. The effects of variations in the technique of precipitating, filtering, and preserving or drying the protein will be studied, and the National Institute for Research in Dairying and the Rowett Research Institute will cooperate in measuring the nutritional value of some of these products.