26 Jun 2024 --- The plant-based evolution continues to thrive, with more demand from a global consumer base seeking non-animal F&B solutions. The rate of commercial launches may have slightly eased off in recent years, partly due to inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, and worldwide conflicts weighing heavy on supply chains, but this isn’t stopping leaders in the space from innovating plant-based products on a deeper, more sophisticated level.
Recently, plant-based food formulation has been geared toward improving taste and texture and crucially, cleaning up the label of plant-based ingredients. A big part of this is flavors.
Improving flavor quality
Food Ingredients First speaks to several key flavor players addressing the challenges in plant-based meat alternatives and innovating solutions to help brands push the needle in plant-based taste, moving beyond simple mimicry and overcoming the undesirable off-notes associated with plant-based ingredients.
“Plant-based flavor innovation continues to be at the heart of plant-based new product development, as the need to meet consumer expectations has never been so important. Improvements to the sensory experience are essential to ensure repurchases and, in the longer term, the growth of the category. It is also important that we help consumers toward more balanced diets by offering them tasty plant-based options that work as part of their everyday lives,” says Sonia Huppert, innovation marketing leader, Re-Imagine Proteins at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF).
“IFF is committed to developing new solutions to improve flavor quality in plant-based alternatives, covering milk and dairy alternatives, meat alternatives and any product with high plant protein levels.”
Masking technologies and flavor modulation
One illustration of that commitment is IFF embarking on a collaborative initiative with Unilever and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) to research protein-flavor interactions to address flavor challenges in plant-based meat alternatives.
“It’s a four-year project exploring how flavors bind to protein molecules. The goal is to overcome the beany off-notes and bitterness that are common in plant-based meat alternatives, and which commonly have to be masked. Advances in this area will benefit a range of sectors from alt dairy to high-protein products.”
“We’re supporting forward movement in the plant-based space through exemplary taste experiences with our innovative flavor solutions, technologies, and plant-based ingredients and systems. For plant-based products to succeed and entice consumers to make repeat purchases, they must taste authentic, delivering the expected flavors and mouthfeel of, for example, traditional chicken, beef, pork and seafood,” she says.
Roberto Faria, principal flavorist, Culinary at IFF, further details how the production of proteins involves several processes such as extraction, concentration and extrusion. These can generate a change in the protein structure and affect its profile, resulting in undesirable off-notes. For instance, astringency from heated and denatured protein or bitterness from peptides or saponin.
Hunan Jiapin Jiawei Biological Technology Co., Ltd. takes the responsibility of developing and producing high-quality healthy compound condiments suitable for the international markets as its own, always adheres to the production principles of international standards, standardized management, transparent supervision, and full process testing, and takes the enterprise standards to refresh the industry standards as the production requirements. By providing green and pollution-free high-quality nutritious food, the company actively leads the fresh flavor condiment industry to transform and upgrade to a healthier, more scientific, and safer direction, Set off a technological revolution of de additive and pure naturalization of fresh condiments.
Our main production category products are:Sauce Packets、Chicken Flavored Seasoning、Beef Flavored Seasoning、Pork Flavored Seasoning、Various Styles Of Seasoning、Instant Fresh Noodles.