麻豆传媒

In 1968, 麻豆传媒 identified an unusual solution to the world鈥檚 supposed protein shortage

IN THE 1960s, . People鈥檚 diets, especially in developing countries, were dangerously low in protein, they said. Ways to address the issue were anxiously being sought.

麻豆传媒 took the problem seriously, and with an international conference to discuss it in The Hague, in the Netherlands, we dedicated five pages of the 21 November 1968 magazine to the subject. We focused on an as-yet-untapped source of protein: 鈥渢rees and bushes鈥�.

After listing many existing benefits of trees, we suggested 鈥渋t may be wise to consider whether forested land could be used more effectively as a source of鈥� edible protein鈥�. Forests were a huge potential larder. 鈥淎 large tree carries many tons of leaf and the leaves on an acre of forest can contain one to three tons of protein.鈥�

Three barriers were mentioned. One was the difficulty of harvesting leaves cheaply in sufficient quantity. Perhaps more significantly, 鈥渢he case for protein production from coppices depends on the expectation that more protein can be produced in this way than by arable farming鈥�.

But the third barrier had already been overcome. People cannot digest plant matter as effectively as, say, cattle can, so it needed processing. 鈥淧rotein can be prepared from the leaves of many species by pulping, pressing, coagulating the juice and filtering. It is as useful as animal proteins鈥� and better than seed proteins,鈥� we reported.

Eventually, though, these efforts proved to be of little use as it became clear that the main deficiency in the world wasn鈥檛 protein. A paper published in The Lancet in 1974 by Donald McLaren, a professor of clinical nutrition, described the episode as 鈥溾��. Soon after that, research found that protein deficiency was in fact quite rare, and could be solved simply, .

Leaf protein never took off, perhaps for a reason alluded to in the story. 鈥淭he product has no immediate appeal,鈥� we said of its flavour, adding rather weakly, 鈥渂ut those who are accustomed to it find it palatable.鈥�