AGRICULTURE
ALTERNATIVE-PROTEIN PLANT
18
FARM FOCUSES ON
TCBusiness.com
PARABEL FARMS
Aerial view of Parabel’s hydroponic aqua-farm in Fellsmere where the company is growing water lentils, a revolutionary new protein source.
Vero-based company blazing trail
for zero footprint food sources
In the open farmland rolling west of the
town of Fellsmere, Parabel USA, Inc. is waging
a food revolution. There, on an aqua
farm, the company grows a potential solution
to a zero-footprint food source. Water
lentils are sprouting and growing in acres
of fertile, large-scale hydroponic ponds.
Through developed and patented
technology research, scientists at Parabel
have discovered properties inherent in the
water lentil that have turned it into a desirable
ingredient for a food market craving
alternative protein sources.
Parabel’s clients are demanding such a
large quantity of this type of plant protein
that the company is planning a large scaleup
in production for 2020 to meet that
global demand.
Despite the name, water lentils are not
beans, but a flowering aquatic plant that
grows prolifically in free-floating ponds at
Parabel’s Fellsmere farm.
The list of the water lentil’s advantages
might seem too good to be true. The
vegan product’s protein content is greater
than 40 percent of the dry matter, far succeeding
other plant material.
It’s also high in omega-3 levels, is more
nutrient dense than kale or spinach, rich in
calcium, iron, vitamin A and antioxidants.
And, the gluten-free and grain-free water
lentils were recently discovered to contain
the natural bio-active form of vitamin >>
BY MARY ANN KOENIG
/TCBusiness.com