University of Nottingham: Serving up healthy plant-based food research with new flavour facility
Researchers from the University of Nottingham and University of Adelaide have joined forces to launch a new international food flavour facility to improve the taste of sustainable, healthy, plant-based food and ingredients.
The new $2.5 million facility at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus in South Australia, will expand the University of Nottingham’s International Flavour Research Centre (IFRC), and is supported by a major investment by v2food, a global leader in plant-based alternatives to meat.
The facility will bring together world-class scientists across flavour chemistry, food and agriculture, under the one roof, to take on the challenge of getting more sustainable, healthy, plant-based food into people’s diet.
The research team, which will include a new post-doctoral and PhD position, will use innovative technologies and flavour chemistry techniques to help food manufacturers develop new sustainable products that are tasty and consumers will enjoy. This includes alternative proteins, meat free substitutes and healthier versions of existing plant-based products.
Professor of Food Chemistry and academic lead for the International Flavour Research Centre, Ian Fisk
Professor of Food Chemistry and academic lead for the International Flavour Research Centre, Ian Fisk said: “Due to the globally interconnected nature of our food supply chain, we need to work together to identify sustainable alternatives in our diet to ensure a safe, reliable supply of high-quality nutritional foods that consumers enjoy.
“Sustainable healthy diets require a rethink of food ingredients and crops, new agricultural and food production processes and novel packaging systems and new routes to market.
“Ultimately this is how we go about a step change for diets and more sustainable eating habits.”
Professor Rachel Burton, Head of Department of Food Science at the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, said : “The initiative will expand the research capability at our Waite campus and enable us to work on new and interesting projects in flavour chemistry and sustainability.”
“We are excited to be part of this global approach to the challenge of producing food that is healthy, delicious and is part of the solution to a more sustainable approach to feeding future populations.”
The new laboratories will house the latest flavour chemistry tools with a range of bespoke interfaces to track flavour development and understand the role of food ingredients in flavour perception.
Professor Ian Fisk demonstrating the MS-NOSE
One of the cutting-edge analytical tools that will be used in the research is the MS-Nose, developed in the Nottingham laboratory. The MS-Nose is a high end analytical technique that acts like an artificial nose, allowing real-time measurement of aromas while you are eating.
Professor Fisk said: “Flavour is a combination of the aroma (smell), and the taste of a food. When you interchange food ingredients or materials such as reducing fat, sugar and salt or replacing meat proteins with plant proteins, there are a series of highly complex flavour questions that need to be answered.
“These include how to ensure that nutritious plant-based meat alternatives generate an equally appealing flavour during cooking, and how to ensure that when part of a complete meal, they are a viable alternative for those who regularly consume meat.
“These are some of the challenges we will be exploring within our team.”
Major industry partner Nick Hazell, CEO of v2food said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with globally recognised researchers with a wealth of expertise to develop our next generation of sustainable and healthy plant protein products.
“Our leadership and development team are looking forward to working closely with the Centre to accelerate knowledge creation, new product development, and advance the quality of delicious, nutritious v2food.”
The International Flavour Research Centre is funded by v2food, the University of Adelaide, University of Nottingham and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.