Plant-based foods face seven formulation challenges
Plant-based meat and dairy have made technical progress, while consumer acceptance remains linked to taste, texture and price. The products have also faced criticism associated with ultra-processed foods. Valentina Gallani, a health and nutrition research manager at ProVeg International, and Devika Suresh, head of the ProVeg Incubator, identified seven continuing formulation challenges.
Protein structure and dairy functionality
Plant proteins do not behave like the muscle proteins found in meat. Manufacturers must arrange them into a fibrous structure and reproduce firmness, chewiness and juiciness. Extrusion and other processing methods have advanced, but developers must also control colour, flavour, cooking performance and nutritional quality.
Plant-based dairy products face a related problem in reproducing the functions of milk proteins and caseins. In drinks, plant ingredients interact differently from milk proteins and fat, creating risks of sedimentation, creaming and separation. Emulsifiers, stabilisers and homogenisation are among the methods used to improve stability.
From laboratory recipes to commercial production
A formulation that works in a laboratory or kitchen may perform differently on a manufacturing line. Suresh said recipes often need adjustment for a contract manufacturer’s equipment, while consistent quality must be maintained across production batches. Small companies can also struggle to obtain protein fractions and functional ingredients in the quantities and at the prices required. Those constraints can force a reformulation.
Plant-based cheese combines several technical requirements, including melting, stretching, firmness, creaminess and flavour. Suresh said founders in the category report that technical and commercial pressures meet particularly sharply in cheese. Ingredient systems that provide convincing melt, stretch and flavour can be among the costliest parts of a recipe. Fermentation-based methods can require additional time, process controls and pilot-scale facilities.
Flavour and nutrition
Plant proteins can introduce beany, bitter or astringent notes. Plant-based meat developers must also build the complex savoury flavour associated with cooked meat. Fermentation, extrusion and flavour optimisation are being used to address these issues, which also affect plant-based drinks and cheese.
Matching the nutritional profile of animal-based products remains difficult for both categories. For plant-based meat, developers must consider protein quality, micronutrients and, depending on the ingredients, digestibility and bioavailability. Plant-based dairy products also require nutritional equivalence, and many drinks use fortification to improve their nutrient content.
Progress in processing and infrastructure
Advances in protein structuring and extrusion have produced more convincing fibrous textures in plant-based meat. Research has also improved meat-like flavour and colour and reduced unwanted tastes. In plant-based dairy, work on emulsions, suspensions, fermentation, homogenisation and fortification has improved consistency, nutrition and sensory quality. High-pressure and ultrasound-based technologies are being explored.
The supply of supporting capabilities has also expanded. Suresh said functional ingredient systems, flavour-masking products and contract manufacturers able to operate plant-based production lines are more accessible than five years ago. Start-ups therefore spend less time building basic production capabilities and more time differentiating their products. The formulation issues, however, have not been eliminated.
