Forschung für den Mittelstand - Die IGF-Projektdatenbank

Pflanzliche Milchersatzprodukte auf Basis der Carioca-Bohne und deren Fraktionen

The market for plant based dairy alternatives grows disproportionally with a predicted annual growth rate of 8 % over the next 9 years (Ahuja and Rawat, 2019). Thus, high quality dairy alternatives with superior taste and nutritional profiles are of high interest for consumers and possesses high potential for SMEs to differentiate their portfolio from multinational companies. However, most currently available dairy alternatives are of low nutritional quality due to lower protein contents and higher sugar contents in comparison to cow milk products. High amounts of sugar are usually added to mask plant specific off-flavours. Additionally, the use of emulsifiers and stabilizers are regularly necessary to meet technological requirements like a prolonged storage stability, reduction of creaming or improvement of gel strengths and reduction of syneresis. These features of currently available products greatly impair consumer acceptance and might affect the sustained growth of this market segment in a mid- to long-term.

Therefore, the main objective of ProBean is the development of optimized processing techniques for the production of dairy alternatives with improved techno-functional and nutritional properties based on an agri-food industry sidestream, namely carioca beans, which have been sorted out due to damages or defects (e.g. broken beans) after harvesting.

The ProBean project approach addresses several unsolved requirements of the dairy alternatives market. This includes the use of a low allergen and GMO- free agri-food industry sidestream, as well as the application of dry and wet fractionation techniques and physico-chemical separation processes for the production of dairy alternatives. Thereby, the impact of those technologies on the reduction of antinutritional compounds and nutrient bioavailability will be monitored and used to optimize the preparation methods to receive tasty as well as nutritionally improved dairy alternatives having a high bioavailability of nutrients. Plant biopolymer emulsification and gel formation will be studied in detail for enabling the use of the intrinsic protein characteristics rather than including food additives like emulsifiers and stabilizers. Thus, an experimental design will be applied to elucidate protein-starch interactions for optimized techno-functionality aiming to mimic the rheological attributes and texture of dairy products. To demonstrate the feasibility of the developed processes and the application range, two model food applications, a yogurt alternative and a custard-like product, will be created. The fermentation process for yogurt alternative production will be adapted for improved sensory and texture by targeted strain selection.

The associated SMEs will benefit from the Probean project by receiving results they can implement for their own developments for new dairy alternatives and the use of a yet unknown ingredient for their production. This will enable the marketing of a broader range of dairy alternatives. Furthermore, food retailers and consumers will benefit indirectly from more sustainable, healthy and less expensive dairy alternatives being superior in taste and nutritional profile compared to the currently existing ones. ProBean will provide comprehensive know-how on the required production steps on a molecular and processing level. By this means, the envisaged project will compensate the limited research capacities of SMEs and strengthen their competitiveness against global food companies. By including both partners from Germany and Brazil the complementary knowledge of the two research institutes (i.e. Fraunhofer IVV and Unicamp) will facilitate a fast time-to-market strategy after the end of the project. Furthermore, the use of carioca bean, a typical protein source for South America, and the readily availability of this sidestream in Brazil, fosters the development of a non-GMO, low-allergenic and yet underutilized protein source and enables the German SMEs to exploit an alternative source of proteins.