The culinary challenge of replicating the texture, flavor, and mouthfeel of traditional dairy-based cheese has been a bottleneck in the mass adoption of plant-based cheeses. Recent research from the University of Copenhagen, published in the scientific journal Future Foods, has shed new light on how fermentation—an ancient food science technique developed in China as far back as 600 BC—could be the key to overcoming this hurdle.
The study demonstrated that yellow pea protein, when subjected to fermentation, produced a “firm cheese-like gel” reminiscent of a fresh soft white cheese. According to the study, the process involves inoculating yellow pea protein with bacterial cultures and allowing it to incubate.
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“Fermentation is an incredibly powerful tool to develop flavor and texture in plant-based cheeses,” Carmen Masiá, the lead researcher on the study, said in a statement. “In this study, we show that bacteria can serve to develop firmness in non-dairy cheese in a very short period of time while reducing the bean-like aroma of yellow pea protein.”
Masiá and her team collaborated with microbial ingredients supplier Chr. Hansen for the study, which was aimed at making plant-based cheeses delicious enough to be sought out by consumers.
“The most challenging thing for now is that, while there are a lot of people who would like to eat plant-based cheese, they aren’t satisfied with how it tastes and feels in the mouth,” Masiá…
