Marmite has a fascinating journey from its wartime origins, to becoming a beloved pantry staple worldwide. In the 1900s, a scientist by the name of Justus Freiherr von Liebig discovered the yeast. This started the journey of utilizing it as an extract.
The product had many uses in the old times. For example, during the war people used it for health benefits like curing anemia. Marmite is also a vegan source of B vitamins, including supplemental vitamin B12.
Taste can be defined differently; the term is changing as more research is coming out. My previous blog on texture, aroma, taste, and mouthfeel gives an overview of taste. I also talk about other sensory evaluations that all work together to give us flavor.
Today, I will focus on taste and how it relates to flavor. I’ll explore topics like threshold of substances, how it relates to diabetes, and taste bud health. All these factors lead to a difference in taste sensation between individuals.
The picture above shows a variety of sugars from honey, stevia plant, bee pollen, white sugar cubes, white, and brown sugar. This reminds me of my time working at a sugar factory; the ingredient is versatile in different products. For example, pre-gelatinized white sugars were used to create decons for cakes. Also, the factory produced natural colors, edible films, and rose decorations for baked products.
Beetroot powder sounds appetizing? what comes to mind when you hear this word. No, it’s not from a beetle, like you’re thinking. Though there is a pigment from a beetle. That’s another story. Look up “beetle pigment” in Google. Yes, it’s beetroot in British english, and also known as garden beet, red beet, or golden beet. I prefer the yellow beet over the red beet; it gives a sweeter than earthy flavor.
Hui et al., provides research on this type of technology. During the process of packaging, there is a need to blanch the vegetable. This changes the texture, and speeds up the drying rate of different fruits and vegetables. Also, there is a change in water content and cell structure. Therefore, VSPB alters the final product. To note here, the process is a type of blanching that doesn’t require water, and reduces food waste, in the process. Though this new technology still needs more studies to find out how effective it is. Questions I think that need to be answered, how does removing water improve food safety? and how does water play an important role in this technology? more on this later on. The diagram below explains about the process of VSPB. After step two, the vegetable or fruit is exposed to the steam for a longer period, and in turn, a gradual decrease in temperature occurs. This helps stop the blanching; the whole process repeats as many times as necessary by the manufacturer:
Olive oil is a versatile oil with a rich flavor, health benefits, and various uses in the kitchen. Contrary to belief, olive oil has its own antioxidants, which helps prevent oxidation than most other oils like soybean, sunflower, and peanut oils. Though it is still susceptible to rancidity when it reaches 400F/ 212C. Rancidity refers to the process where olive oil oxidizes and breaks down, leading to off-flavors, an unpleasant smell, and reduction in nutritional value.
Ezekiel bread is made of sprouted grain, flourless, and packed with vitamins and minerals. The final product gives a dense texture, as I remember, the absence of yeast provides the customer with a unique flavor than regular bread. For me, I’m not a fan of the dense texture, but I love the flavor. As Gunnars from Healthline mentions. The bread is sprouted, which helps reduce anti-nutrients. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are prevalent in a person’s diet if the grain is not sprouted. For example, Awulachew provides evidence that fermented sourdough bread is the most beneficial than other types of bread, and baking methods, such as, more phytonutrients and antioxidants. The sourdough method provides quality and nutrition for the final product. Personally, I enjoy the taste, aroma, and flavor of sourdough bread. Lastly, the article suggests more research is needed to find out the relationship between dough volume, baking method, and nutritional availability. Even though this is not sprouting, the fermentation method is one of the baking methods that provide bioavailability of nutrients—minerals and vitamins—that are not absorbed with unsprouted grains by the body. The addition of sprouted grain in sourdough bread is an option, which can increase the nutrient content of the bread. Therefore, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be resolved with sprouted grains, reducing anti-nutrients, and improving the nutritional component of the bread.
Alternative proteins are gaining momentum over the past few years, such as tofu, tempeh, and even insect protein. Well, insect protein is another subject that I will delve in my future blog posts. Let’s focus more on the alternative protein for this blog.
One example of alternative protein is textured soy (vegetable) protein or TSP. As Dr. Riaz from Texas A&M University, “fabricated palatable food ingredients processed from edible protein source. characteristic ‘chewy’ texture.” The final TSP product is shown above. TSP provides a similar texture as meat. This is just one example of the alternative protein consumed by the global population. Most of the TSP is found in veggie burgers, sausage, and tofurky and the least amount is found in sauces, seasonings, desserts, side dishes and soups.
Many other alternative proteins are coming out such as a new combination of TVP that provides better nutrition, texture, and flavor for the global population. In turn, this helps reduce the dependency on soy. Examples include adding oat and faba bean which provides a higher nutritional and textural benefit for the final product. Other alternative proteins that has a promising future is mung bean protein isolate. The research shows that mung protein isolate provides a better texture and nutrition content than TSP.
Vegan protein categories
As you can see below there are a wide variety of vegan proteins available for vegans and vegetarians. There is a misconception that vegans and vegetarians are protein deficient.
Soybean, textured soy (vegetable) protein and protein intake
Many alternative proteins have a different texture functionality than animal proteins. This gives plant alternative products a less fibrous texture than animal protein. On the other hand, nutritional functionality of animal protein is complete compared to alternative proteins. Hence, you need to combine different plant protein together to get a complete protein in your diet. For example, quinoa is a complete protein that provides all 9 essential amino acids in a vegan and vegetarian diet. Also, combining beans and corn provides more complete protein in vegan and vegetarian diet. Lastly, there many other sources that provide a complete protein such as tofu, tempeh, and edamame.
As you can see, there are challenges that food manufacturers are working on. One of the main challenges is the texture functionality and taste of the alternative proteins. To resolve this issue, many novel plant-based products are coming out in the market. While other products are still being researched.
To note here, alternative proteins’ demand has been declining over the last year or so due to texture functionality, taste, and economic issues. As well as a change in customers’ perception on the health benefits of alternative proteins.
References
Saldanha do Carmo, C.; Rieder, A; Varela, P.; et al (June 2023). Texturized vegetable protein from a faba bean protein concentrate and an oat fraction: Impact on physicochemical, nutritional, textural and sensory properties. Future Foods, Volume 7,100228. Website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fufo.2023.100228.
Baune, M.; Terjung, N.; et al (December 2022). Textured vegetable proteins (TVP): Future foods standing on their merits as meat alternatives. Future Foods, Volume 6,100181. Website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fufo.2022.100181.
Brishti, F.H.; Zarei, M; et al (August 2017). Evaluation of the functional properties of mung bean protein isolate for development of textured vegetable protein. International Food Research Journal, 24(4), pp 1595-1605. Website: http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my/24%20(04)%202017/(34).pdf.
The use of Umami and MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) are closely related topics that have been discussed and researched extensively since the 1980. It was all started by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikedas after he investigated the tastes of his wife’s rich kelp broth. Ever since, many discoveries such as receptor locations on the tongue have led to the understanding of this elusive flavor. When we eat, there are several factors that contribute to the flavor of food. One of these factors are the taste buds – small sensory organs on the tongue. The taste buds are composed of several taste cells that react to taste stimuli. They are situated on microvilli of taste buds in papillae. As you can see in the picture above, umami taste is located in the middle of the tongue.
Living Well In The 21st Century 