Ancient tree from India may replace petroleum, company hopes

An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy. As large parts of the Sunshine State’s once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past couple of decades due to two fatal diseases, greening, and citrus canker, some farmers are turning to the pongamia tree, a climate-resilient tree with the potential to produce plant-based proteins and a sustainable biofuel. For years, pongamia has been used for shade trees, producing legumes—little brown beans—that are so bitter wild hogs won't even eat them. But unlike the orange and grapefruit trees that long occupied these rural Florida groves northwest of West Palm Beach, pongamia trees don’t need much attention. They don’t need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. And they don’t require teams of workers to pick the beans. A machine simply shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they’re ready to harvest. Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010, then uses its patented process to remove the biopesticides that cause the bitter taste, making the beans suitable for food production. The pongamia is a wild tree native to India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. The legume is now being used to produce several products including Panova table oil, Kona protein bars, and protein flour. The legumes also produce oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a very low carbon footprint, said Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva's board of directors. “It has one of the most dense energy per pound of refined oil that you can have.” Bees and other pollinators feast on the pongamia’s flowers, supporting local biodiversity, Edwards said. An acre of trees can potentially provide the same amount of oil as four acres of soybeans, he added. What’s left after the oil is removed from the pongamia bean is “a very high-grade protein that can be used as a substitute in baking and smoothies and all kinds of other plant-based protein products,” Edwards said. This article was provided by The Associated Press.