With legumes at heart!

Taste is king!

A variety of factors influence what we choose to eat; we eat to satisfy hunger, we eat to enjoy, we eat to be healthy; we eat because it is a nice way to socialize, but the most important thing is that what we eat tastes good. Most of us consumers are not willing to compromise on taste even if we know that choosing certain foods is healthy or good for the environment. A challenge with some new legume proteins is that they have certain off-flavors that can be perceived as bitter, for example. In the GoaProteiner project, we investigate how process parameters affect taste. We explore whether different pre-treatment methods such as soaking, heat treatments and supercritical extraction can reduce off-flavors of pea and bitterness by using our own senses in combination with analyses, GC-O.

Peas for the planet!

 Switching from conventional dairy products that we are used to to using plant-based dairy analogues can be a barrier for many. Within a project called FINEST, we have let consumers bring new products home to test in their own kitchen and everyday cooking to see how these new products are used in practice! Knowledge that is important for many companies in their product development process!

Beanlicious

A major driver of eating a more plantbased diet is the connection to health. To ensure that new products launched on the market meet consumer expectations of being healthy and tasty, we are working on a project called PILSNER on how we can balance the salt content of new legume proteins. We are doing this in consultation with discerning consumers, students who will participate in this project by evaluating products and recipes with lower salt content in a school environment.

Green proteins for a resilient future

Choosing Swedish produce is something that many consumers prefer, a way of choosing food more locally grown and supporting domestic food production, which increases our preparedness in times of crisis. There is currently an exciting growth of companies in Sweden that are establishing processing plants for legumes in Sweden, Lantmännen, GroPro, Kalmar&Ölands Trädgårdsprodukter, Proteinish. Knowledge is required to set up these new processes and build a competitive Swedish legume protein industry. In projects such as VÄXTVERK we contribute with knowledge on how we can develop modern and environmentally sustainable processes to produce Swedish legume proteins in the future. 

FOMA

Can easily get caught up in FOMO – fear of missing out. An important component not to miss when it comes to new attractive foods is the importance of fat for the taste experience in plant-based foods. The consistency of fat during cooking and in the mouth can have a big impact on how flavors are highlighted. In this project we explore how we, with new technology -- oleogeler, can mimic animal saturated fat but maintain the benefits of unsaturated fats and enhance the taste!

9 out of 10 innovation platform

With all these projects, we want to make it easier for consumers to find environmentally sustainable alternatives and contribute to the development of attractive products based on legumes.

By promoting sustainable and healthy options, we can together create a stronger and more resilient future for our food system. So the next time you're faced with a choice at the grocery store, why not try something new and give peas a chance? Together we can make a difference!!