Generating meaty flavour in emulsions made from vegetable oil and water

在世界范围内，越来越多的人正在转向弹性饮食--通常被理解为主要以植物性饮食为主，偶尔吃肉。说服人们少吃肉的一种方法是，如果来自植物的肉具有与真肉相似的感官品质，特别是味道。肉类口味是工业化生产的，但在素食食品中使用植物油来制作高质量的肉类口味是一个挑战。脂肪提供了香气活性的氧化产物，也形成了反应和储存香气活性分子的疏水相，而在脂肪/水界面可能发生了其他风味形成反应。在这个项目中，成分、条件和目标分子将被筛选出来，以找到对肉类风味影响最大的变量。将为目标分子建立预测模型，并对选定的产品进行感官评估，以表明它们对风味的影响。目标分子的分析将使用最先进的分析技术进行。所获得的模型将预测是否以及如何使用素食成分创造肉类风味。目标：1.通过研究两相体系中的美拉德反应，开发和评估一个可以预测肉类香味形成的模型。这项工作将涉及不同类型的植物油和脂肪的检测，以及极性脂和乳化稳定剂的结合。为了使用这个模型来创建肉类素食风味配方，可以在食品应用中进行评估。博士生将接受以下方面的主要技能/技术培训：香料提取和分析统计建模高级食品化学感官分析这个学生有机会成为团队的一部分，该团队包括一个因其食品化学研究而备受推崇的大学系，以及两家以食品创新方法而闻名国际的公司。

Worldwide, more and more people are shifting to flexitarian diets - generally understood as largely plant-based with occasional meat. One route to convince people to eat less meat is if 'meat' from plants possesses similar sensory quality, particularly flavour, to real meat. Meaty flavours are made on an industrial scale but using vegetable oils to prepare high quality meaty flavours in vegan foods is a challenge. Fat provides aroma-active oxidation products and also forms a hydrophobic phase for reaction and storage of aroma-active molecules, while at the fat/water interface other flavour-forming reactions might be possible.In this project, ingredients, conditions, and target molecules will be screened to find the variables with highest impact on meaty flavour. Predictive models will be made for target molecules, and sensory evaluation of selected products will indicate their impact on flavour. Analysis of the target molecules will be done using state-of-the art analytical techniques. The obtained models produced will predict if and how the creation of meaty flavour using vegan ingredients is possible. Flavours successfully created using the model will be tested in plant-based substrates that imitate meat.Objectives:1. To develop and evaluate a model that will predict meaty aroma formation, by studying the Maillard reaction in a biphasic system. This work will involve the examination of different types of vegetable oils and fats, in combination with polar lipids and emulsion stabilizers.2. To use this model to create meaty vegan flavour formulations, that can be assessed in food applications.Major Skills/Techniques the PhD student will be trained on:Flavour extraction and analysisStatistical modellingAdvanced food chemistrySensory analysisThis studentship is an opportunity to be part of a team that includes a University Department highly regarded for its research in food chemistry, alongside two companies internationally renowned for their approach to food innovation.