Abstract
Current plant-based yogurts are made by the fermentation of plant-based milks. Although this imparts fermented flavors and probiotic cultures, the process is relatively longer and often leads to textural issues. The protein content of these plant-based yogurts is also lower than their dairy counterparts. To overcome these challenges, this paper explores the high pressure processing (HPP) of plant protein ingredients as an alternative structuring strategy for plant-based yogurts. Using mung bean (MB), chickpea (CP), pea (PP), lentil (LP), and faba bean (FB) proteins as examples, this work compared the viscosity and viscoelastic properties of high pressure-structured (600 MPa, 5 min, 5 °C) 12% (w/w) plant protein gels without, and with 5% (w/w) sunflower oil (SO) to commercial plain skim and whole milk Greek yogurts and discussed the feasibility of using HPP to develop plant-based yogurts. HPP formed viscoelastic gels (G’ > G’’) for all plant protein samples with comparable gel strength (G’~102–103 Pa; tan δ~0.2–0.3) to commercial dairy yogurts. The plant protein gel strength decreased in the order: CP~CPSO~LP~LPSO > MBSO~PPSO~FB~FBSO > PP >> MB. Modest addition of sunflower oil led to little change in viscoelastic properties for all plant protein samples except for MB and PP, where gel strength increased with incorporated oil. The emulsion gels were also more viscous than the hydrogels. Nonetheless, the viscosity of the plant protein gels was similar to the dairy yogurts. Finally, a process involving separate biotransformation for optimized flavor production and high pressure processing for consistent texture generation was proposed. This could lead to high protein plant-based yogurt products with desirable texture, flavor, and nutrition.
Highlights
The demand for plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products has been increasing to alleviate the intense strain of animal husbandry on the environment [1]
This paper explores the high pressure processing (HPP) of plant protein ingredients as an alternative structuring strategy for plant-based yogurts
An understandable concern is the viability of adding probiotic cultures before HPP as high pressures have been known to inactivate vegetative microorganisms [7]
Summary
The demand for plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products has been increasing to alleviate the intense strain of animal husbandry on the environment [1]. The texture of plant-based yogurts, could be improved to increase acceptability. Plant-based yogurt products adopt the traditional yogurt-making process through the fermentation of plant-based milks [3,4]. While this imparts fermented flavors and probiotic cultures, the acidification of plant proteins often leads to weak gel formation and phase separation [5]. Hydrocolloids are typically included to stabilize and enhance the texture, which is not desirable due to clean label reasons [6]
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