ProSchmelz

New perspectives on sustainability and animal welfare are key drivers for the increasing demand for vegan cheese alternatives. Germany is a leader in the sale of plant-based cheese alternatives, especially hard and sliced cheese. However, the product properties do not sufficiently meet consumer requirements. The low nutritional value, an unnatural taste, high price and disappointing melting behavior of the available vegan cheese alternatives are named as main deficits. In general, vegan analogue cheeses are made with the addition of vegetable fats, water, salt and starch. Unlike to cow’s milk cheese, usually no protein is included. In contrast to the gentle heating of milk proteins before cheese production, vegetable proteins often experience higher temperatures during protein extraction, which leads to a higher denaturation degree. This results in enlarged protein agglomerates with reduced functionality and melting is impaired.

The denaturation degree of plant-based proteins can be influenced during the production process. By using mild parameters, the proteins retain their molecular flexibility, interact optimally with fat through the formation of stable emulsions and thus, might enable a product-typical melting behavior of the cheese.

The aim of the project is therefore to lay the foundations for the development of protein containing vegan cheese with product-typical melting behavior. For this purpose, proteins from lupin, pea and potato are extracted as minimally denatured as possible. Then, a mixture of the ingredients protein:water:fat is produced in an optimal ratio to form a cheese-typical microstructure. After ripening with starter cultures, cheese demonstrators are produced and finally, the influence of protein denaturation on the melting properties of the hybrid cheese variants is investigated.