ProBean

The market for plant-based dairy alternatives is growing disproportionately. To meet this demand, high-quality dairy alternatives, with appealing sensory and textural properties, are required. However, today’s products are often fortified with high sugar amounts to mask typical beany flavors and emulsifiers and stabilizers to increase storage stability. This can negatively affect the market segment in the medium to long term.

The aim of the research project ProBean is, therefore, to tap a hitherto unused raw material –carioca beans – for the production of dairy product alternatives. A second objective is the development of optimized processing parameters for the production of dairy alternatives with improved functional and nutritional properties based on defective or broken carioca beans, a by-product of the agricultural and food industry.

The low-allergen and GMO-free raw material will be processed using a combination of dry and wet fractionation techniques as well as physical-chemical separation processes for the production of dairy alternatives. To achieve this goal, protein and starch fractions are first isolated and characterized in detail. In addition, the protein and starch digestibility, as well as the presence of anti-nutritive compounds, are analyzed during the processes. Based on these results, iteration steps are taken to optimize the processing of carioca bean residues in terms of sensory, functional and nutritional properties. The main focus will be the influence of the processing steps on reducing the anti-nutritive compounds while increasing the bioavailability of the valuable nutrients. The functional properties will be optimized by exploiting the intrinsic potential of the carioca bean proteins rather than the addition of external additives. Protein functionalization will be achieved through suitable protein-starch interactions. By integrating an experimental design, suitable rheological and textural properties of the dairy alternatives will be adjusted.

Based on the evaluated protein-starch interactions, two model applications for food are finally developed: a yoghurt alternative produced by fermentation and a vegan custard produced by heat-induced gelation. A suitable fermentation process and a selection of carioca varieties are the most important parameters for optimizing the sensory and textural product properties.