Objective
DELICIOUS proposes an innovative technology for the production of affordable, tasty and safe plant-based dairy analogues (cheese and kefir) with high nutritional value, by combining microbial products with plant-based raw materials. The project aims to accelerate dietary change, contributing to better nutrition for all through the development of products with a high protein content, rich in vitamins, fibre and probiotics.
The project also aims to reduce the environmental footprint of the food industry, not only by replacing conventional dairy products, but also by introducing microbial products that require less water and land use and make use of residual raw materials.
Taking the perceptions of culinary experts (chefs) as a starting point, the project seeks to improve the sensory characteristics of current commercial plant-based products in order to enhance their market positioning. To this end, we will use tailor-made microbial fat produced through precision fermentation, yeast biomass and fibre-producing microbial strains to achieve the desired organoleptic properties without additives or artificial flavourings, while avoiding ultra-processing methodologies.
To accelerate the commercialisation of the products developed, DELICIOUS will carry out several analyses and assessments: safety assessments, nutrition simulations, consumer testing and techno-economic assessment of the processes, combined with behavioural economics, in order to define the profit margins and price of these products.
Leveraging the consortium’s strong capacity and experience in high-throughput methodologies, the project also aims to provide the fermentation industry with a bioinformatics tool to predict the flavour, odour and texture of a product, based on the initial raw materials and the microorganisms used in fermentation, significantly reducing product development costs.
Activities
- Selection and production of microbial cultures and products to improve the flavour, odour and texture of plant-based dairy analogues.
- High-throughput fermentations and development of a computational tool for predicting flavour, odour and texture.
- Product formulation and scale-up: vegan cheese and vegan kefir.
- Safety studies, nutritional assessment and health benefits.
- End-user perceptions, sensory evaluation and consumer acceptance.
- Sustainability assessments and behavioural economics.
- Dissemination, communication and exploitation.
- Project management and ethics.
Dissemination/Transfer
