Soy Gel Technology Could Change Oral Perception of Food

04 Feb 2015 --- New food research may lead the way for further sugar and salt reduction in food. The research, carried out by NIZO Food Research, in collaboration with the TIFN project, centres on the effect of the microstructure of protein-based systems on the amount of water entrapped in the network when deformation is applied (similar to oral processing, or chewing).

This amount of water entrapped is directly related to juiciness of food products, and in having control over this parameter could offer new opportunities in food formulation.
 
Dr Laurice Pouvreau, Senior Project Manager, Plant Ingredients at NIZO, worked on the study, and told FoodIngredientsFirst that the gel morphology in relation to the pressure applied during chewing determines how much water is released from a gel protein product. This could easily be translated into the release of flavour and tastants.
 
“This research relates to the release of water from a soy protein gel, but its applications can be far-reaching,” she said. “A fine tuning in food systems morphology (microstructure) can significantly change the juiciness of the food product and consequently its perception. This could lead to the addition of less salt or sugar, as consumers have the same flavour perception, but without the quantity of flavour ingredient.”
 
The technology is an important step to engineering food product perception, but the researchers found that just a small differentiation in the morphology of food can affect the release of water. “With the right technology, this research can link flavour perception to juiciness of a product,” said Pouvreau. “Flavour is often linked to texture perception, so by tuning one, you can also tune the other.”
 
The project, entitled ‘Origin of Water Loss from Soy Protein Gels’, sets out to establish how protein can be manipulated to provide more flexibility in choice of proteins. This research could lead to new ways to use protein gels which could be added in food production to tune taste and texture perceptions. It could be applied to many types of proteins, not just soy.