Grant: Canada Research Chairs

The long-term objective of the CRC program is to understand and improve the shelf-life stability, sensory quality (flavour and texture), and nutritional properties of plant-based foods. In the short term, the program will focus on (1) characterizing the nutritional quality, functional properties, and flavour profiles of new and emerging plant proteins; (2) understanding the mechanisms underlying flavour development in plant-based foods and evaluating components that modulate flavour interactions in plant-based foods during processing and storage; and (3) upcycling waste from food processing by blending them with protein-rich materials to form biodegradable packaging materials. This research program will evaluate pulses (peas, chickpeas, and beans) and grains (oats) because these crops grow well in Canada and can be obtained in sufficiently large quantities for commercial production. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry coupled with olfactometry will be used to develop and characterize flavour profiles. A panel of trained evaluators will evaluate the nutritional and sensory profiles of plant-based foods. Machine learning algorithms will be used to build models that can predict flavour preferences among consumers. Biodegradable protein films will be developed for food packaging, by optimizing bacterial strains from the fermentation of lobster shells. The proposed research will advance the development of long-term solutions for the Canadian food industry. The discovery of aroma active compounds in pulses after different types of processing and storage can help ensure better quality control of raw materials and help product developers meet flavour-delivery challenges. Improved flavour (including taste and aroma) is also a major goal for the manufacturers of plant-based products. There remains, therefore, a significant opportunity to develop new plant-based foods with high consumer acceptability. Moreover, a better understanding of the key factors that improve the microbial treatment of lobster shell waste properties may be an alternative to the chemical method of chitin extraction, and the resulting chitin/chitosan may be useful in the design of more sustainable food packaging materials. This research program is therefore timely and relevant and contributes solutions to the global climate crisis and further accelerates the transition from animal-sourced protein foods to the use of more sustainable plant-based foods and ingredients. ?