Flavour, odour and texture improvements of plant-based dairy products using microbial fermentation products (DELICIOUS)

Research Project, 2024 – 2028

DELICIOUS proposes a novel production technology to create affordable, tasty and safe plant-based dairy analogues (cheese and kefir) with high nutritional value, by combining microbial products with plant-based raw materials. The project has the ambition to accelerate the dietary shift, acting like a paradigm for the whole plant-based food sector. DELICIOUS contributes to a better nutrition for everybody by developing products with high protein content, rich in vitamins, fibres and probiotics. The project aims also to decrease the environmental footprint of food industry not only by replacing conventional dairy products in peoples’ diets but also by introducing microbial products which acquire less fresh water, less land use and inexpensive residual raw materials. Having as starting point the perceptions of culinary experts (chefs), the project will improve the sensory characteristics of the current, commercial plant-based products in order to improve their placement in the market. To that end, we will use tailor-made microbial fat, produced via precision fermentation, yeast biomass and fibre-producing microbial strains to achieve the desired organoleptic properties without additives, artificial flavours and avoiding ultra-processing methodologies. To accelerate the commercialisation of the developed products, DELICIOUS will perform various analyses and evaluations: Safety assessments, nutrition simulations, consumers testing and technoeconomic evaluation of the processes combined with behavioural economics to define the profit and price margins for such products. Capitalising on the great capacity and experience of the consortium on High Throughput methodologies, the project has also the great ambition to empower fermentation industry with a bioinformatic tool to predict flavour, odour, and texture of a product, based on the initial raw materials and the microorganisms used in fermentation, significantly decreasing the costs of product development.