Hybrid plant-dairy cheese: Effects of lactic acid bacteria and plant proteins on composition, proteolysis, and flavor profile

In the search to improve the sustainability of the food supply chain, the market for plant-based cheese analogs is growing. However, sensory defects, particularly related to flavor, remain a challenge. Here we developed a hybrid plant-dairy cheese that balances flavor with sustainability. Out of 44 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains that were screened for their acidification and flavor-improving abilities, four were chosen for further testing in a newly developed hybrid MicroCheese system. Hybrid cheeses could be produced by enriching bovine milk with either rice or pea protein slurry (18 % w/v) in a ratio of 9:1. GC-MS analysis showed that fermentation allowed for reduction of plant protein derived off-flavors but also for production of volatiles that are desired cheese flavors. Machine learning provided a data-driven understanding of how LAB and plant protein shape hybrid cheese flavor, identifying marker volatiles and enabling differentiation of these cheese types.