White paper: Plant-based yoghurt-style products – The role of ingredients and process control
Because the chemistry of plant proteins differs from dairy proteins, there is a lot to learn. We lay out the processing and technology challenges in this new white paper, and show you how to move your ideas from design to formulation to finished product.
We cover the major steps in producing yoghurt-style products from plant material, and lay out the details on three popular raw materials: oats, soya beans and almonds. Since these raw plants differ in their protein, fat and carbohydrate levels, preparation of a base requires special procedures, which we explain. Many of the same principles can be extended to other grains and nuts.
Once the base is prepared and a recipe is chosen, the key to product success lies in meeting three challenges:
- Optimizing quality characteristics such as viscosity, texture, mouth feeling and appearance by adding ingredients that supplement the weaker network-building capacity of plant proteins
- Optimizing heat treatment to ensure food safety and quality
- Optimizing fermentation culture and fermentation time.
There are also special requirements on mixing technology and mixing procedures, for example, involving temperature and timing of additional ingredients.
The heat treatment is strongly determined by the recipe, especially the type of starch and any other thickeners and stabilizers. Some thickeners cannot tolerate high temperature, while others need a very long holding time to be activated. In addition, long fermentation times may require higher initial heat treatment.
A number of post-fermentation steps are also critical to maintaining product safety and quality. There are starches and other thickeners that do not develop viscosity until they are cooled down after fermentation. In these cases, the viscosity is designed to develop in the package.
We cover all these elements and more in this easy-to-read document.
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