• Start-up Israeli food tech ChickP reveals how its chickpea protein isolate and proprietary formulas can create plant-based dairy alternatives.
More than two years ago, the company began commercial production of its 90% chickpea isolate, which "may be the next generation of vegetable protein to replace animal protein", said the company's executive director, Liat Lachish Levy, for FoodNavigator-USA. ChickP has demonstrated that its ingredient can be used successfully in meat alternatives, egg substitutes and dairy products, including cheeses.
"When creating plant-based cheeses, manufacturing companies must mimic the taste and texture of animal products, but also avoid unwanted ingredients in their formulations," says Levy.
Food companies can use the chickpea isolate ChickP "to create cheeses with a texture similar to the real thing...be it cream cheese or hard cheese."
Typically, food manufacturers overcome texture challenges by relying on stabilizers, but given the unique gelling and emulsifying capabilities of ChickP protein, added stabilizers such as Carrageenan and xanthan gum and Guar.
And what's more, unlike most plant-based products that don't feature active enzymes, ChickP has experimented with various cultures to create a plant-based cheese with probiotic benefits. The experimental cream cheese contains coconut oil, starch, water and other ingredients, and through fermentation with lactic acid bacteria, a spicy flavor similar to probiotic cheese can be obtained.
Chickpea as a revolutionary protein
Today the plant-based protein market is largely dominated by soy and pea. But the chickpeas, by having a richer nutritional profile than other plant-based proteins and addressing the need for cleaner label products, has the potential to gain significant market share.
The chickpeas is a legume that contains the nine essential amino acids. That makes it a complete protein. The natural taste of chickpeas is pleasant, which means that it does not need to be masked with flavors or other ingredients, which also translates into a cleaner label.
The market for plant-based dairy products is on the rise, and this is unlikely to slow down as the global population continues to grow and there is not enough animal protein to meet worldwide demand.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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