Shiru’s Ingredient
Pipeline

Shiru’s discovery platform Flourish™ is discovering the next generation of sustainable food ingredients.

 

These functional ingredients produced through precision fermentation will give food developers a toolkit to create plant-based products that will delight consumers and meet the essential and growing need for food that is kind to humans, animals, and the planet.

Flourish™ Discoveries for Gelation

Shiru’s first range of ingredients is tackling the functional aspects of gelation for plant-based foods.

 

If you can ace the functionality of gelation in your plant-based foods – you can ace in the marketplace. We all know when consumers purchase plant-based foods, they expect the alternatives to look, feel, and taste just like the original. But in order for that to happen, the products need to cook similarly too. Most of that cooking transformation is due to the functionality of gelation. Most food products that use ingredients from animals- for example eggs or gelatin – go through structural changes during cooking (heating) forming solid or semi-solid characteristics.

 

However, animals are not necessary for this process to occur. So we enlisted our discovery platform, Flourish, to find the best performing gelation ingredients nature has to offer – to help you – and consumers – enjoy great tasting foods, without the reliance on animals.

Gelation in Alternative Meats

  • Digital Discoveries

    Flourish™

  • Lab Validation

  • Prototype Scaling

  • Food Validation

  • Industrial Scale

Status: Food Validation

  • What role does the functionality of gelation play in alternative meats?

    Gelling agents in plant-based meats are crucial to improve their sensorial attributes such as juiciness, as they help promote water and fat holding capacities. Gelation is also essential in the cooking process, when a softer raw form transitions into a firmer cooked form and creates the final texture.

  • What is Shiru discovering to solve this challenge?

    Currently, the most commonly used gelling agent and binder in plant-based meats is methylcellulose. Although it performs well, it is clear that consumers aren’t happy with chemically modified ingredients, like methylcellulose, on their product’s labels. Shiru’s gelation solutions for alternative meats have been discovered in nature and will not be chemically modified.

Egg Replacement in Baked Goods

  • Digital Discoveries

    Flourish™

  • Lab Validation

  • Prototype Scaling

  • Food Validation

  • Industrial Scale

Status: Prototype Scaling

  • What role does the functionality of gelation play in baked goods?

    Gelation provides structure, cohesiveness, and texture in baked goods. For example, eggs are important in creating cakes that hold together and retain their moisture.

  • What is Shiru discovering to solve this challenge?

    Eggs are a crucial ingredient in many baked goods. When producing plant-based baked goods, food formulators rely on many functional ingredients like gums, oils, and starches to create the structures that eggs typically create. However there have been challenges in reaching the expected performance of eggs in baked goods. Shiru’s discoveries are found in nature, will meet the performance of eggs, and will be produced sustainably using precision fermentation.

What’s next for Flourish™? Contact us now to learn how to commission Flourish™ for your unique challenge.

We are open to new partnerships and always thrilled to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations. Just shoot us a message and one of our team members will get back to you soon.

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