Evaluation and Manipulation of the Mechanisms and Interactions of Protein-Carbohydrates-Ingredients for Formulating Novel Plant-Based Cheese

Today, there is a considerable desire to consume sustainable products due to healthy and ethical reasons, environmental sustainability, and issues related to greenhouse gas emissions.

Ireland now specializes in producing beef, lamb, and dairywhich are the most emission-intensive foodsbut plans to cut greenhouse emissions (50%) by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Cheese manufacturing consumes significant quantities of energy (4.9-8.9 MJ/kg) and the study on the novel dairy-free cheeses has gained high interest due to the new opportunities offered by the worldwide market where it is predicted to rise to 3.90 billion USD by 2024.

The dairy-free industry faces major challenges to formulate dairy-free cheeses with excellent nutritional properties, functionality, flavour, and texturecompared with the dairy-based cheeses.

This study proposes to evaluate and manipulate interactions of plant proteins/carbohydrates/relevant ingredients through food material science, aiming to design an innovative dairy-free cheese with similar physicochemical, rheological, and sensory properties to the dairy-based cheese.

This project will be carried out during a 2-year period at Teagasc with a 3-month secondment in University College Cork.

Firstly, the physico-chemical interactions, structures and functional properties of materials will be studied and the most appropriate materials and their ranges will be determined (WP1).

After producing some prototypes of dairy-free cheeses, the properties of them will be determined (WP2), and then, formulation(s) will be optimized (WP3). Finally, the quality of the optimized sample will be compared with commercially available cheeses (WP4).

Results of this study will contribute to the industrial/sustainable production of dairy-free cheeses; thus, it will provide food security, sustainable lifestyles, and consumption patterns in alignment with current Teagasc goals, Horizon 2022, EU, and Irish government research initiatives.