Vegetable Stretched-Curd Cheese Production via Fermentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vegetable-based cheese alternatives to mozzarella lack the protein content, low saturated fat levels, and fibrosity characteristic of dairy-derived mozzarella, and they are not packaged in a protective liquid, which affects their nutritional profile and consistency.
Innovation Solution
A method for producing a vegetable stretched-curd cheese using nuts and/or seeds, specifically almonds and/or cashews, combined with probiotic and mesophilic bacterial strains for fermentation, and food texturizing agents like dietary fibres, which allows for a stretching process similar to dairy mozzarella, resulting in a product with a protective liquid.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of stationary object
If vegetable-based ingredients (coconut oil, starches, flours, hydrocolloids) are used to produce cheese alternatives, then the product can be made without animal-derived ingredients, but the protein content remains low (less than 3%) and saturated fat content becomes high (greater than 10%)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental ingredient parameters by using nuts and seeds as the base instead of traditional vegetable fats and starches. This shifts the nutritional profile to achieve protein content above 3% while maintaining lower saturated fat levels, directly resolving the contradiction between plant-based formulation and nutritional quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite material system combining nuts/seeds with specific bacterial cultures and texturizing agents. This composite approach allows the product to achieve both the desired nutritional profile (high protein, low saturated fat) and the functional properties (stretchability, curd formation) that single-ingredient systems cannot provide
2Shape
If traditional vegetable-based cheese ingredients are processed at high temperatures with high shear forces, then the product can be formed and shaped, but the resulting mass becomes viscous and sticky, requiring plastic moulds and lacking fibrosity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the processing parameters by using low-temperature fermentation instead of high-temperature cooking. The bacterial cultures transform the nut/seed base into a stretchable curd at moderate temperatures, eliminating the need for high-shear processing and plastic moulds while creating the desired fibrous texture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical high-shear processing system with a biological fermentation system. Instead of using mechanical force to create texture, beneficial bacteria naturally transform the substrate into a fibrous, stretchable curd through metabolic processes, simplifying the manufacturing process
3Reliability
If acids and acidity regulators are added to reduce pH and improve shelf life, then the product stability increases, but the product contains more food additives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by using beneficial bacteria to naturally produce lactic acid during fermentation, which lowers the pH and preserves the product. This eliminates the need to add external acids or acidity regulators, as the preservation system is self-generated through the metabolic activity of the cultured bacteria
Solution Approach 2:
The beneficial bacteria act as intermediaries that convert the nut/seed substrate into preserved cheese curd. These bacteria serve dual functions: transforming the physical properties of the substrate and simultaneously producing natural preservatives (lactic acid), replacing the need for separate preservation additives
4Shape
If vegetable-based cheese alternatives are produced without stretched curd process, then the production is simpler, but the consistency is very far from dairy mozzarella and lacks the characteristic white/whitish colour
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-fermenting the nut/seed base with beneficial bacteria before the stretching process. This pre-treatment develops the necessary structural properties and white coloration in advance, enabling the subsequent stretching to produce mozzarella-like consistency without requiring complex multi-step processing
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method achieves a vegetable-based cheese with a protein content above 3%, low saturated fat levels, and a consistency similar to dairy-derived mozzarella, packaged in a protective liquid, thereby addressing the nutritional and organoleptic gaps in existing alternatives.
Implementation Method 1
probio tic and mesophilic bacterial strains for fermentation
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to the preparation of a food product that is proposed as a vegetable-based alternative to dairy products. Specifically, the invention relates to a method for obtaining a vegetable-based and/or vegan cheese derived from nuts, preferably from almonds and/or cashews, and/or seeds, characterised by being a vegetable stretched-curd cheese, preferably with a protective liquid, with organoleptic properties (appearance and consistency) similar to that of a dairy-derived mozzarella Furthermore, the invention relates to a vegetable stretched-curd cheese, preferably with a protective liquid, obtained with the method of the invention, a vegetable stretched-curd cheese, preferably with a protective liquid, and the use of combinations of food texturizing agents, preferably of natural origin, and even more preferably the use of combinations of natural dietary fibres, which allow for performing the step of stretching a vegetable-based cheese derived from nuts, in particular from almonds or cashews, and/or seeds.