IFT First 2025: dsm-firmenich talks “decoding” sensory challenges in plant proteins with masking range

As demand for sustainable nutrition and protein diversification grows, food formulators are increasingly looking for plant-based ingredients that meet functional and sensory expectations. 

At last week’s IFT First 2025 (July 14-16) in Chicago, Food Ingredients First caught up with Melanie Luangrath, senior director for new business development at dsm-firmenich, to discuss how the company’s new range of ModulaSense maskers can improve the taste of its plant-based protein Vertis CanolaPro.

Luangrath outlines how these solutions are designed to mitigate off-notes commonly associated with plant proteins, enabling more palatable and nutritionally dense products.

How do ModulaSense maskers address the sensory challenges associated with plant proteins like Vertis CanolaPro?

Luangrath: Vertis CanolaPro has many functional benefits for the market, but like many plant proteins, it may present sensory challenges. It has a distinctively sweet taste with some licorice-like notes and some astringency. With ModulaSense, we go beyond masking off notes, we decode them. It specifically targets these off notes and intercepts them before they reach the key receptors. This is backed by over two decades of innovation in plant-based taste design, and our new maskers are the most advanced tools we have to unlock the full potential of Vertis CanolaPro.

By eliminating these sensory challenges, we’re helping producers make plant-based ready-to-mix and protein bar products more palatable, enabling higher protein inclusion for protein fortification.

And looking at the bigger picture, this means more brands will be able to satisfy a broader consumer audience, whether they are vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians, or anyone seeking enjoyable and functional products.

How do ModulaSense maskers help manufacturers meet the dual challenge of delivering high nutritional value and taste?

Luangrath: Vertis CanolaPro has been collaborating with our clients to bring high-quality, plant-based products to the market since 2023. We’ve also used plant protein to create countless great-tasting products with superior texture that give consumers the plant-based experience they crave across categories like sports and lifestyle nutrition products, better-for-you snacks, plant protein-fortified spreads, pasta, and more.

At dsm-firmenich, we are always looking at how we can make our solution work even better for clients to help them integrate a better consumer experience more easily, and that’s where ModulaSense comes into the picture. You have two ingredients for plant-based nutrition, but the outcome is that there is no longer competition between taste and nutrition.

What are some of the key functional benefits of Vertis CanolaPro, and how does ModulaSense contribute to its versatility?

Luangrath: CanolaPro is the result of over a decade of heavy R&D that valorizes an existing side stream of canola oil production. It is an upcycled certified ingredient with an especially attractive nutritional profile compared to plant-based protein because it’s a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids.

It has a PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score) of one, which is the highest you can reach. And it’s also free from all the major allergens, including soy. So the key functional benefits of canola are its excellent solubility across the broad pH range, foaming, emulsification, and gelation properties that makes it ideal to complement other pulse proteins such as pea, fava and the like, and for use in sports and lifestyle nutrition products, including ready-to-mix (RTM) and ready-to-drink beverages, bars, baked goods, and fortified cereals.

The first wave of our new ModulaSense maskers are specifically designed for RTM beverages and protein bars, but we plan to expand this into other applications.

How important is the sustainability and development of ModulaSense maskers, and how do they align with the broader shift toward sustainable nutrition?

Luangrath: Vertis CanolaPro has a unique sustainability profile. It uses little water and has a very low CO2 carbon footprint, even lower than that of most commonly used plant proteins, such as peas or soy. It is made from an existing crop and uses no additional arable land for its production.

With ModulaSense, it takes a big step toward the future we envision, where consumers no longer need to choose between what is good for them and what is good for the planet.