CA22161 - Future of plant-based food: Bridging the gap of new proteins and FLAVOURsome (FLAVOURsome)

Modulation of food nutrients towards consumer preferences, and food system sustainability is one of the frontiers of Food Science. Plant-based foods are a major opportunity in pairing the naturally present health-promoting phytonutrients with providing alternative protein sources, allowing to reduce meat and dairy intake while reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide. However, it is well-known that plant-based food and proteins have undesirable flavour, namely bitter, astringency and green odour. So, while plant-based food and proteins are an opportunity of innovation for the food industry, they present a grand challenge to tackle: to maintain desirable flavour profiles aligned with minimum food processing. 

FLAVOURsome Action is based on the creation of shared knowledge on flavour research to boost the innovation in the plant-based food industry. This Action will employ a concerted approach to encapsulate the knowledge from diverse expertise, to merge the correlation between research and sensory analysis, and to realign future research while fostering exchanges between academia and industry to fuel the development of innovative applications to be applied in the food industry. This Action will promote high level and multidisciplinary training, along with scientific and society dissemination to engage citizens at the centre of food systems change. 

FLAVOURsome Action will join world-leading experts covering the main disciplines involved in food flavour research. This will result in an integrative, cohesive and multidisciplinary group of experts, stakeholders and companies. The envisaged knowledge transfer within and beyond Europe will ensure that Europe can stay at the forefront of flavour research and its applications.