Re-inventing the cheese wheel: Researchers work on optimizing plant-based dairy
Chemical engineers at UNSW Sydney have created a plant-based cheese that melts, stretches and browns under the grill like the real thing, paving the way for more realistic dairy and meat alternatives that blend plant proteins with complex carbohydrates. "Colors and flavors are the easy part," says Professor Cordelia Selomulya, who has been working on plant-based food textures at UNSW since 2019. "But replicating the structure—that pull of melted cheese, or the juicy mouthfeel of meat—is the real challenge." While plant-based alternatives have been on the market for many years, some of today's products still fall short as they behave strangely under heat, fail to effectively deliver the nutrition promised on the label—including sufficient protein—and simply lack the sensory properties of dairy-based products.
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