- The plant-based drink processing sector faces challenges such as persistent beany smell and urease in soy drinks, product safety, nutritional considerations, and stability during processing.
- Aromatic compounds contribute to their overall flavour profile, and understanding flavour formation pathways helps in optimising the aroma and minimising off-flavours.
- Oxidative fat degradation is a common issue in developing plant-based beverages, leading to off-flavours and undesirable tastes.
- Heat-sensitive health risk factors pose challenges, and multi-phase dispersion systems in plant-based drinks are prone to physical instability and phase separation.
- Plant-based drinks are susceptible to spoilage, and developing efficient methods to control harmful micro-organisms is imperative.
- The plant-based drink industry faces a critical bottleneck in consumer acceptance due to bitter and astringent flavours.
In the plant-based drink processing sector, industry leaders face multi-faceted challenges that demand strategic solutions for sustainable evolution. Key issues include the persistent beany smell and urease in soy drinks that affect their culinary appeal, and the presence of starch granules in oat drinks that affect their otherwise smooth taste. Other challenges include product safety, nutritional considerations, and stability during processing.
Oxidative fat degradation is a common issue in developing plant-based beverages, leading to off-flavours and undesirable tastes. Researchers have found that when plant-based drink ingredients are stored under normal conditions, their quality remains stable. However, during processing, the activation of endogenous lipoxidases can trigger oxidative fat degradation, resulting in the development of rancidity and other unpalatable flavors.
The health benefits of plant-based drinks hinge on their structure, particularly their cell wall composition. Optimizing processing technologies, such as heat treatment and extrusion, is crucial to break down cell walls and enhance nutrient dissolution. Heat-sensitive health risk factors, such as cyanogenic glycosides and anti-vitamin factors, pose challenges. Elimination methods, such as enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation, are employed to address allergens like soybean proteins and gluten. Multi-phase dispersion systems in plant-based drinks are prone to physical instability and phase separation, and chemical and biochemical processes like oxidation and hydrolysis further threaten stability, impacting the safety and taste of plant-based drinks.
