How University of Guelph researchers are making a more ‘meaty’ plant-based meat

Making plant-based meats more “meaty” – that’s the focus of a team of researchers at the University of Guelph.

Employing a “mechanical mouth” and corn waste protein, the scientists have found a potentially cheaper and simpler alternative to current plant-based meat-making techniques.

The “mechanical mouth” bites down on a piece of plant-based meat manufactured in a University of Guelph lab. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)

“It almost replicates the first two bites of chewing,” says food science PhD student Stacie Dobson describing how the team’s “mechanical mouth” works.

They have created meat-like analogues that mimic the chewy texture and "mouth feel" of beef or chicken.

“So we can get elements like hardness, chewiness.”

Those textures are something plant-based meats on the market often lack.

“Those are all sorts of ground proteins that are stuck together with a type of starch or cellulosics that kind of bind everything in that way. So it doesn't have those whole muscle fibres,” Dobson explains.

But the University of Guelph’s plant-based meat is different, thanks to a corn protein called zein.

“It's often a waste product that's used in animal feed or in fertilizers, but this protein has these stretchy fibre-like properties within itself when you just add water and about 40 degrees and a bit of dilute acid,” Dobson says.

With those fibrous textures, it feels like biting into tissue.

“We can see those fibres that are definitely part of it,” Dobson says as she pulls a piece apart.

Fibrous texture is one of the things that set the University Guelph’s plant-based meat apart from others on the market. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)

Aside from the texture, the team says their meat-making method involves cheaper processing costs, which could ultimately mean lower prices for consumers.

There are environmental benefits too, considering the simpler more sustainable technology compared to current methods.

The team of researchers is now looking for a partner to help scale up production and nail down flavour.

“Because it uses such mild ingredients, you can almost add whatever flavour profile you want,” Dobson says.