CROPPING

World-first application for lupins

A New South Wales farming family has taken lupins from the stock feed market to developing a unique process of steaming, flaking and toasting lupins, ready for human consumption.

Staff writer
 Lupin flakes are now available thanks to NSW farmers. Picture courtesy Lupins for Life.

Lupin flakes are now available thanks to NSW farmers. Picture courtesy Lupins for Life.

As the nation's only processor of albus lupins as a food product, Lupins for Life, will be dishing up its new range to visitors at the Farm Gate Produce Market at this year's Henty Machinery Field Days (HMFD).

The Brocklesby, NSW, grain grower behind Lupins for Life, Gary Drew, will be at Henty to meet with field day visitors and launch the company's latest product, Toasted Protein Flakes.

The business embodies the true spirit of paddock to plate, low food miles and local expertise.

"Those flakes have been sown in local soil, harvested by local farmers, and carted to the local town for processing and packaging,'' Lupins for Life managing director Roger Drew said.

The Drew family has been growing lupins as a traditional break crop in their rotation since the 1980s. They grow high-yielding Rosetta and Luxor sweet albus lupins, boasting protein levels of more than 40 per cent.

Catering for the gluten free market, much of the Lupins for Life range is Coeliac Australia and New Zealand approved, and milled at the company's Jindera, NSW, plant.

"There was no blueprint for a process which steams, rolls and toasts a whole kernel,'' Drew said.

"The resulting lupin flake can be blended through a muesli mix, eaten with yoghurt, as a salad topper, used in baking or add texture to main meals and desserts.

"The protein level at 43 per cent is higher than steak and it has a low glycemic index, giving a feeling of fullness.''

Last year's HMFD was the first public debut for the company, showcasing their range of lupin flour, semolina, crumb, kibble and flakes.

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