A new book has explored how replicating meaty tastes and textures could encourage more people to switch to sustainable diets.
Called Plant-Forward Cuisine: Basic Concepts and Practical Applications, the book emphasizes the key role of umami (savoriness), one of the five basic tastes. It also discusses “koku”, a concept used by Japanese researchers to describe foods that are rich, complex, and continuous.
According to the authors, these two attributes could be vital in helping more people switch to plant-based foods. The book describes how free glutamate and nucleotides are the key to umami flavors; these molecules are found in animal products but are rare in plants. However, there are exceptions, such as sun-ripened tomatoes, mushrooms, and certain seaweeds.
“Special concept”
The book also explains that the koku sensation is elicited by small pieces of proteins called dipeptides and tripeptides. Dipeptides work within umami-tasting foods such as gouda, parmesan, fermented soybeans, and yeast extracts. Meanwhile, tripeptides stimulate calcium channels on the tongue’s surface and contain types of glutathione that can create the koku sensation. They are found in foods such as garlic, beef, chicken, fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce, scallops, and beer.
“Koku is a hard-to-define Japanese expression for a special concept, associated with a taste attribute that combines elements of continuity, mouthfulness, and complexity,” say the authors. “It can enhance the sensation of umami, sweet and salty, and at the same time suppress bitterness.”
Plants as key ingredients
The book provides scientific descriptions of the physical characteristics of plants, mushrooms, algae, and fungi, along with information about their nutritional components. It aims to facilitate the creation of better flavors and textures, making plant-forward foods palatable to a wider audience.
Previous research has uncovered several methods of bridging the flavor gap between meat and plant-based alternatives, including the use of yeast extracts, seaweed-derived heme, and fermented onions. Analytical tools could also help to replicate meaty flavors.
“To ensure that there is enough food for a growing world population, to lessen the burden on the environment, and to promote healthier, sustainable eating patterns, it is crucial to transition to a diet that focuses primarily on plants as the key ingredients,” said Ole G. Mouritsen, a professor of gastrophysics and co-author of the new book.
