Mechanisms for fibre formation in melts for meat analogues

Research Project, 2023 – 2025

The food chain consumes substantial resources and contributes 25% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, with meat production alone contributing a staggering 14.5%. The consumption increases and this is alarming also from a nutritional perspective, as excessive consumption of meat has been linked to health problems, such as coronary heart disease and certain cancers.
From environmental and health concerns there are clear motivations to decrease meat consumption.We propose a multidisciplinary project with food, materials science and modelling specialists, and advanced experimental techniques to explain the mechanisms responsible for fibre formation during extrusion of biopolymers. These mechanisms are the foundation for producing plant-based meat-analogues, but the mechanisms are not fully understood, thus making prediction of extrusion outcome impossible.New melt models combined with in-line flow monitoring in our extruder die enables simulation and experimental validation of a combination of dependent physical and chemical mechanisms. The project has access to all necessary tools, equipment and expertise. Knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for fibre formation will make it possible to predict extrusion outcome from raw material properties thus enabling new plant raw materials to be utilised. It will also enable design of novel extrusion dies for increased production efficiency.