Tackling barriers to increased acceptance of meat analogues through taste enhancement using healthy fats

Substituting meat with more environmentally friendly proteins such as meat analogues has become more accepted by consumers. However, resistance grounded in taste preferences persists. Fats are a key carrier of flavor and represent an opportunity for sensorial improvement in these products.

Meat analogues often contain fats rich in healthy unsaturated fatty acids, which are typically liquid at room temperature (RT), affecting their mechanical and structural properties. The impact of this on the sensory experience is under-researched.

The potential for using oleogels, which are more solid at RT and thus closer in mechanical terms to the fats found in meat, here is also relatively unknown. This project aims to assess the role of healthy vegetable fats and oleogels in enhancing the taste of meat analogues.

Prototypes varying in fat type, content, and processing will be developed, evaluated sensorially (profiling and liking) and behaviorally (performance in meal preparation), and benchmarked against existing commercial products.

The prototypes will also be comprehensively characterized instrumentally in order to describe the sensory data in physiochemical terms, increasing knowledge on the origin of the sensory experiences and expediting future product development.