Projectname:
Understanding the interactions of proteins and starches to improve the melting behavior of vegan cheeses
Workgroup: Plant-based foods
Research Partner and Scientific Guidance:
IGF: 01IF00372E
Financing: BMWK
Duration: 2024 – 2026
Consumer behaviour worldwide is showing a clear shift towards a conscious and sustainable diet with increasing demand for plant-based product alternatives. In Germany and Brazil, the market for vegan cheese alternatives has seen enormous growth in recent years. However, one of the most important technological challenges in the field of vegan cheeses is the melting behaviour of the products with increasing protein content.
In traditional cow’s milk cheese, the fat of the cheese physically melts as a result of heating to over 40 °C. At the same time, the intramolecular hydrophobic interactions of the proteins (casein micelles) are strengthened. At the same time, the intramolecular hydrophobic interactions of the proteins (casein micelles) strengthen, while the calcium bridges between the casein micelles loosen. The protein begins to flow together with the fat. However, plant proteins have a more complex structure than caseins and are not stabilised by calcium bridges. They therefore lack this flow property during the heating process. However, polysaccharides, such as starch, can be integrated into the plant-based cheese alternatives. Starch grains gelatinise when there is an excess of water, resulting in a viscous state. Depending on the environmental conditions, the starch can interact with the proteins to a greater or lesser extent. These interactions include non-covalent and hydrogen bonds as well as hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. It is expected that proteins support the gelatinisation of starch if both components interact sufficiently with each other and the molecular flexibility of the proteins is high.
The aim of Pulse2Cheese is to advance the development of sensory attractive vegan cheeses by understanding protein-starch interactions and using them to improve application-related properties. To this end, Brazilian and German pulses are first screened to select suitable sources of protein and starch with different compositions and functionalities. After obtaining protein and starch isolates, the protein-starch interaction is investigated as a function of the mixture composition and the environmental conditions and the emulsifying and gelling properties, as well as the microstructure, sensory properties and flow behaviour are optimised. The findings are then transferred to the formulation of model recipes and optimised for vegan cheese model systems and the technological feasibility is demonstrated. Based on this, formulation protocols will be created that include promising environmental conditions, processing parameters and the ability of specific enzymes and starter cultures to produce vegan cheese. The most promising blends are then fermented and matured into sliceable cheese alternatives. Finally, the industrial implementation and applicability of these vegan cheeses in Germany and Brazil will be demonstrated through application in popular food products such as frozen pizza and pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese balls).
Pulse2Cheese aims to compensate for the limited research capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), strengthen their competitiveness and differentiate their portfolio from that of multinational companies. In this way, the results of the project will enable SMEs to apply industrially optimised processing techniques to produce high-quality cheese alternatives with improved sensory, textural, functional and nutritional properties. In this way, consumer acceptance of vegan cheeses based on pulses is to be improved.
The IGF project presented here by the Research Association of the Industrial Association for Food Technology and Packaging (IVLV e.V.) is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the program for the promotion of industrial community research (IGF) based on a decision of the German Bundestag.