FLAVOUR-AI: Flavour optimization in plant-based products through AI Empowered Fermentation
Creating tasty plant-based alternatives has long posed challenges in the food industry, with traditional methods often falling short in both flavor and cost-efficiency. This has led to increased consumer dissatisfaction and limited repeat purchasing.
Wageningen Food & Biobased Research has now developed a unique AI empowered fermentation screening approach, FLAVOUR-AI, that enables organizations to efficiently utilize fermentation processes to improve flavour volatile profiles.
Natural fermentation to reduce off-flavours
Natural fermentation offers significant potential for developing rich and complex flavors, paving the way for improved plant-based offerings. As an example, one common challenge in plant-based foods is the presence of undesirable “beany” or “oxidation” flavors, primarily caused by aldehydes and ketones. Natural fermentation can reduce these off-flavours through microbial conversion to alcohols, as the flavor threshold of alcohols is approximately 50 times higher than that of the corresponding aldehydes.
Solving the complexity of flavour volatile profiles
FLAVOUR-AI addresses these challenges by streamlining the fermentation process. The tool rapidly analyzes and optimizes combinations of substrates, microbes, and enzymes, maximizing research efficiency, de-risking the process and expediting the path to exceptional taste. By quickly identifying high-potential samples, FLAVOUR-AI enables experts to focus their efforts on the most promising candidates.
Unlocking optimal flavour profiles
“FLAVOUR-AI represents a significant advancement in the field of fermentation when developing plant-based products,” said Dr. Martijn Bekker, Expertise Leader Microbial Cell Factories within Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. “By harnessing the power of AI, we are not only improving the flavor of plant-based products and enhancing the overall consumer experience, but we are also achieving cost efficiency in both the R&D process and production process".
Discover our new FLAVOUR-AI screening approach
We invites food manufacturers, product developers, and researchers to explore the capabilities of FLAVOUR-AI and join the movement toward creating better tasting plant-based alternatives by unlocking the full potential of natural fermentation.
If you would like to know more about how FLAVOUR-AI can benefit your organisation, please contact Joost Blankestijn or Martijn Bekker.