'Meating' expectations for plant-based proteins

Researchers from the University of Queensland are teaming up with US-based Motif FoodWorks to design plant-based proteins that are tastier and more nutritious.

As part of a three-year Australian Research Council project, the university’s engineers and food scientists will work with the US-based food technology company to design and develop plant-based proteins that meet  the taste and texture desired by consumers.

There are plenty of people who like eating meat but are also increasingly interested in plant-based meat alternatives for environmental or sustainability reasons. These consumers want the plant-based protein to have the same characteristics as a normal meat experience.

Professor Jason Stokes from UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering said attributes like taste, texture and smell combined are primary drivers for consumers when considering a meat-free option.

“It’s not just the taste, it has to be the texture as well, so the team wanted to understand the mechanics that occur during eating and simulate them in a laboratory,” Professor Stokes said.

Professor Jason Stokes in his laboratory. Image: Megan Pope

Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation’s (QAAFI) Associate Professor Heather Smyth said innovations around texture mechanics were the key to creating the best plant-based eating experience.

Dr Smyth will research different ways of pre-treating plant protein in a way that makes it behave more meat-like in the first place, rather than just compensating burger formulations with various synthetic additives.

“This might include fermenting them, extracting them differently or structurally modifying the plant-protein,” she said. 

“Making the plant protein behave differently as an ingredient is really the space where we can have those breakthroughs, and already we’re seeing some interesting results.”

Associate Professor Heather Smyth in the sensory lab. Image: Megan Pope

Getting plant-based proteins to have similar qualities to those of meat is an important step in making them attractive, as consumers have specific properties in mind that they want to experience when they bite into a burger or cut into a steak.

“Through this work with the UQ team we’re bringing together the physics and sensory aspects of eating,” said Dr Stefan Baier, Head of Food Science at Motif FoodWorks.

“This project will unlock the secrets of food to help us design plant-based options that live up to the taste and texture expectations of consumers.”

Professor Stokes said: “We really have been leading this area of research for some time and that’s why companies like Motif and others have come to us in Australia, even though we’re a long way away from where they do their work.

“The landscape’s changed and people now recognise the challenges in food research, and they’re large challenges in terms of how we perceive food and how we understand food, and rationally design and engineer their microstructure.”

Top image credit: Motif burger patty in bun.