A fababean whipped cream

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Published: March 16, 2023

University of Saskatchewan food scientist Supratim Ghosh is working with fababean protein to make a non-dairy whipped cream. Fababeans were chosen for their white proteins and mild taste.   |  Kira Glasscock, U of S photo

Emulsion.

It’s one of those words that’s rarely used in daily conversations.

But in the food industry, emulsions are a big deal.

Dozens of foods at the grocery store are emulsions. Including mayonnaise, ice cream and many sauces.

“A great example is milk. (It) is an oil in water emulsion. Oil droplets coated with proteins and other milk ingredients… and they are dispersed in water,” said Supratim Ghosh, an associate professor in the department of food and bioproduct science at the University of Saskatchewan.

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Put another way, an emulsion mixture of ingredients that don’t normally mix, such as water droplets suspended in oil or vice versa.

Oil (fat) in water emulsions include sauces, ice cream and milk.

Water in fat emulsions are things like butter and margarine, where water droplets are dispersed in a semi-solid fat.

Ghosh talks a lot about how fats and water can be mixed together: emulsification is his lab’s specialty.

At the moment, he is focusing on a tasty and unique example — whipped cream.

Typically, professional chefs and home bakers use high fat cream to make whipped cream for desserts. But Ghosh is trying to develop develop an alternative made with pulse proteins.

Last year, the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund provided him with $210,000 to develop “pulse protein-stabilized concentrated vegetable oil-in-water emulsions mimicking heavy dairy cream,” says an ADF document.

If Ghosh and his team can pull off this technical feat, a pulse protein whipped cream could be sold into a lucrative market.

“The global whipped cream market… is about $6 billion,” he said in late February, adding the non-dairy whipped cream market was $1 billion in 2021.

“(The) non-dairy market is big…. Plenty of companies are trying to develop these products. Non-dairy whipped cream, non-dairy coffee creamer.”

There are several non-dairy whipped creams on the market, but few use plant-based protein to make the products.

One of the market advantages for a plant-based whipped cream, is it will be healthier than a dairy version.

“Most whipped creams… (are) high in saturated fat.”

A few technical hurdles must be cleared before a pulse-protein whipped cream is on the market.

Ghosh began his research by trying to make whipped cream from fababean protein. He’s using fababeans because the protein is white and has a neutral taste.

One of his technicians succeeded, but it took a lot of whipping. It requires about four minutes of whipping to turn high fat dairy cream into whipped cream.

“Our pulse-based cream, it (took) 14 minutes to whip it,” Ghosh said.

“And the whipped product is not as fluffy as the (dairy) product.”

The U of S emulsification experts hope to reduce that whipping time. They also need to work on the stability of the emulsion.

Some products on the market, like whipped cream made from coconuts, can quickly separate into the water and fat components.

The fababean heavy cream needs to be more stable and comparable to dairy-based heavy cream, so a consumer doesn’t notice a significance difference.

“The emulsions have to be stable for three to four weeks,” Ghosh said. “We’re trying to improve the stability.”

He added they’re not worried about the taste of the pulse-protein whipped cream. Fababeans have a mild flavour compared to other pulse crops. Plus, sugar can be added to mask the flavour.

“If we’re able to develop the structure and texture of the product, similar to dairy whipped cream… taste will not be a big challenge.”

Assuming everything goes according to plan and Ghosh sorts out the technical issues with the emulsion, he will share his final product with the Saskatchewan Food Development Centre.

They will do the work to try and commercialize a pulse-protein whipped cream.

About the author

Robert Arnason

Robert Arnason

Reporter

Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.

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