Naveen Sikka, founder and CEO of Terviva, poses for a portrait at the company's headquarters in Alameda, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. Founded in 2010, the company works with farmers to grow pongamia trees, which are climate resilient and produce a high-protein legume. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Pongamia trees grow in a former citrus grove, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in St. Lucie County, Fla. 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 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. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)
A Terviva employee puts a pongamia tree in a larger pot at the company's nursery, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The tree grows in wet and dry soils and is mostly pest resistant. It also adds nitrogen to the soil and stores carbon, which helps to mitigate the effects of climate change. California-based Terviva has removed the bitterness from the pongamia bean to make it edible. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Ponova Oil is poured into a container at the Terviva headquarters in Alameda, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. The oil, which is high in Omega 9 is made from the pongamia tree legume. The company has patented a process to remove the biopesticides from the pongamia tree legume that cause a bitter taste, making the bean suitable for food production. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Terviva employees graft and mark young pongamia trees at the company's nursery, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The company produces and plants trees that are clonal replicas of its proprietary cultivars. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Elisabeth Beagle, Terviva's director of tree operations, moves a small pongamia tree at its nursery, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The company produces and plants trees that are clonal replicas of its proprietary cultivars. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
A bag of harvested Pongamia legume pods slowly dries out at the Terviva nursery, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
John Young, Terviva's customer success manager, inspects small pongamia trees at its nursery, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. Once the trees are planted, they don't need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. They also 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. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Bottles of Ponova Oil and other products made from the pongomia beans are shown at Terviva's headquarters in Alameda, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The pods of a pongamia tree are ready to pick at a grove, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in St. Lucie County, Fla. The legume of the pongamia tree produces a plant-based protein high in Omega 9. It also has the potential to produce a sustainable biofuel. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Pongamia trees grow in a grove in St. Lucie County, Fla., Thursday, March 20, 2024. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Terviva's John Young, left, and Ron Edwards walk in a grove of pongamia trees, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in St. Lucie County, Fla. Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010, has patented a process to remove the biopesticides from the pongamia tree legume that cause a bitter taste, making the bean suitable for food production. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Naveen Sikka, founder and CEO of Terviva, stands in the lab at the company's headquarters in Alameda, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. The company patented a process to remove the bitter taste of the pongamia tree legume. The small, brown legume is now being used to produce several products, including Panova table oil, Kona protein bars and protein flour. The legume also produces an oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Elisabeth Beagle, Terviva's director of tree operations, places a newly grafted pongamia tree in a high- humidity greenhouse at the company's nursery, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The tree produces a legume that is now being used to produce several products, including Panova table oil, Kona protein bars and protein flour. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Young pongamia trees grow in a grove in St. Lucie County, Fla., Thursday, June 6, 2024. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)