Tackling off-flavor challenges of Swedish legume protein concentrates

Currently, there is a variety of meat analogues on the market, many of which suffer from undesirable off-flavours and are made of environmentally impacting protein isolates. An all-Sweden-based supply chain for a more sustainable production of legume protein concentrates and the food products thereof is a step towards better sustainability. The main challenge with using legume protein concentrates is reducing their off-flavours without impairing other protein properties.

Therefore, it is the aim of this project to adapt the manufacturing process of protein concentrates to improve the flavour. Simultaneously, a better understanding of the impacts of the various processing steps on the flavour and antinutrients will be gained by applying a multi-disciplinary, applied research approach looking at sensory properties, volatile and non-volatile compositional data, as well as physical and chemical functional property analyses. The results from this research project will increase the applicability of these concentrates in food products on the ever-competing market.