Healthy ‘junk foods’ are just around the corner thanks to innovative new lupin-based foods developed by researchers at Curtin University of Technology.

According to Associate Professor Vijay Jayasena, Program Leader of Food Science and Technology at Curtin’s School of Public Health, these new lupin-based foods offer a healthy equivalent to junk foods.

“Despite the educational campaigns to promote healthy eating, research shows that consumption of junk foods is increasing,” Associate Professor Jayasena said.

“What is missing are available healthy foods that look like junk food, taste good, and are inexpensive and convenient.”

This led to the development of unique lupin-based healthy foods including snacks (similar to potato chips), noodles, pasta, and baked foods such as muffins.

Soon, a range of lupin-based healthy foods that are high fibre, high protein, low-fat, and low GI will become available.

“These foods will have similar attributes to popular junk food so ‘junk food’ could be healthy in the near future,” Associate Professor Jayasena explained.

In collaboration with the Grain Foods CRC and Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Curtin’s research team has also developed lupin-based tempe (a popular vegetarian fermented food product ) and other lupin-based Asian foods, which hold huge benefits for countries such as Indonesia and India as they provide low cost, healthy foods.

“These lupin-based foods provide many benefits for the community, and Western Australian farmers will also benefit from the higher demand for lupins when these foods gain popularity,” he said.

Western Australia is the main producer and exporter of lupins in the world, with the State accounting for 80 per cent of the world lupin export.

Lupins are a grain legume similar to soybeans, but half the cost. They are high in protein and fibre, low in saturated fats and carbohydrates, have a low GI and are low cost.

Curtin is collaborating with a number of other national and international research bodies to unlock the potential of lupins, including the Grain Foods CRC, Centre for Food and Genomic Medicine, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, University of Mumbai, UWA, CSIRO and Murdoch University.