To what extent is it possible to produce potato-based pasta products with by-products of the potato value chain?

van Hulten, Sarah Tamar

4. Term

Sustainable Design (M.SC)

2025

2025-05-27

60 pages

The objective of this thesis is to research To what extent is it possible to produce potato-based pasta products with by-products of the potato value chain? By researching this, this thesis contributes to waste reduction at the producers’ site in the potato value chain, as well as, potentially producing a gluten-free alternative to rice noodles, namely potato-based pasta products. A potato-based alternative would be environmentally more sustainable than rice noodles, because the current system of producing and consuming rice noodles leads to a CO2 emission of 5,12 kg per kilo, while a potato-based alternative emits 1,68 kg CO2 per kilo. To upcycle by-products of the potato value chain, it is important to make these potato by-products into a usable ingredient for pasta products, such as potato flour or potato starch. Potato flour is made by dehydrating the potato and blending it into flour, while potato starch is extracted from the potato pulp. Potato flour does not have any baking properties, meaning that a mixture of another flour, for example, semolina flour, and potato flour needs to be used to produce pasta. Therefore, the production method of producing pasta this way is similar to the production of wheat-based pasta. Potato starch, on the other hand, does have baking properties and has the potential to substitute wheat flour 1:1 in pasta production. However, since the main ingredient would be starch and not flour, the production method would differ from pasta that is made from potato flour. To make the outcomes of this research more applicable to the Danish business context, a collaboration with EatWasted, a company that upcycles bread into pasta, was established, to see if they can expand their practices into upcycling by-products of the potato value chain. Two pathways were established for EatWasted to make it easier to expand their practices. 1. Picking up whole potatoes from the potato-processor/wholesaler and blending them into flour. 2. Starting a collaboration with a company that produces side-stream starch and use this starch for pasta production. Since pathway 2 uses starch, the production method would differ from the current production of wheat-based pasta. For pathway 1, a mixture of potato flour and semolina flour would be used, making the production method similar to that of wheat-based pasta.

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