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Plant based beverages or plant based non-dairy alternatives - A growing sector
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Tuesday, 28 June, 2022, 13 : 00 PM [IST]
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Aarcha Vallath & Akalya Shanmugam
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Plant based non-dairy alternatives:
Plant based non-dairy alternatives, also called as plant based beverages is a colloidal suspension that emerges by reducing the particle size distribution (ranging from 5–20 µm) of plant matters (grains, pulses, millets, oilseeds, nuts) that looks and feels like cow's milk.
Plant based non-dairy alternatives is frequently promoted as a nutritious, environment friendly and animal-welfare-friendly replacement. Plant based non-dairy alternatives has evolved into a lifestyle food, enjoyed by many people for a variety of reasons, including dietary concerns and personal convictions.
Veganism and other dietary choices are driving more demand for plant based non-dairy alternatives. The plant based non-dairy alternatives available in market differ in the nutrition and taste (depends on raw material) but in common its usually fortified with vitamins and minerals especially calcium to resemble dairy milk.
Even though there is no stated classification, plant based non-dairy alternatives can be categorized into: (a) Cereal based non-dairy alternatives: oat non-dairy alternatives, rice non-dairy alternatives, wheat non-dairy alternatives, corn non-dairy alternatives; (b) Pulse based non-dairy alternatives: soy non-dairy alternatives, lentil non-dairy alternatives, lupin milk, chick pea non-dairy alternatives; (c) Millet based non-dairy alternatives: pearl millet non-dairy alternatives, sorghum millet non-dairy alternatives, finger millet non-dairy alternatives; (d) Nut based non-dairy alternatives: almond non-dairy alternatives, cashew non-dairy alternatives, pistachio non-dairy alternatives, walnut non-dairy alternatives; (e) Seed based non-dairy alternatives: sesame non-dairy alternatives, hemp non-dairy alternatives, sunflower non-dairy alternatives.
Market Potential:
Traditional plant-based non-dairy beverages can be found all over the world, such as Sikhye, a Korean product consisting of cooked rice, malt extract, and sugar, boza, a fermented wheat, rye, millet, and maize beverage popular in Bulgaria, and traditional Chinese soy non-dairy alternatives.
Soy non-dairy alternative is the most extensively dairy substitute, having just recently made its way from Asia to shop shelves in Europe and the United States. In 1940, Hong Kong launched the first commercially viable plant based non-dairy alternatives, with soy in the market.
The global market for plant based non-dairy alternatives surpassed $12 billion in 2019 and is estimated to achieve a rise of over 11 % of CAGR (compound annual growth rate) to increase market volume to $ 24.6 billion in 2025. Plant based non-dairy alternatives is popular among customers because of its high nutritional content, which includes vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and proteins.
Also, it is popular among consumers, owing to rising medical and lifestyle concerns, such as lactose intolerance (LI), cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA), and cholesterol issues, as well as lifestyle choices such as vegan diet and worries about growth hormone and antibiotic residues in cow's milk, all of which will push customers to choose non-dairy alternatives to dairy products.
Furthermore, lactose intolerance is a rapidly progressing condition in the developed world, particularly among the aged population, reducing the consumption of milk and milk products. Moreover, the majority of the population is switching to a vegan diet since it helps to regulate cardiovascular disease, prevent obesity, reduce cancer risk, and manage diabetes.
This will increase demand for plant based non-dairy alternatives even more. Soy non-dairy alternative has the largest market share and is the consumer's first choice, because of its nutritious content, health benefits, worldwide availability, and range of flavours available in the market. Almond non-dairy alternative, rice non-dairy alternative, coconut milk, and oat non-dairy alternative, on the other hand, are progressively increasing in market share as a result of their rich calcium, mineral, good flavour and low sodium content and calorie.
The plant based non-dairy alternative is available in both sweetened and unsweetened varieties, so it's suitable for people of all ages. Also, the dairy-free, gluten free, and naturally sugar free nature of plant based non-dairy alternatives make it popular among with different medical conditions.
Among plant based non-dairy alternatives, soy was the very first plant-based milk to provide the population with nutritious alternative where the availability of milk was insufficient. It has also been common among populations that are allergic to milk proteins, intolerant to lactose and gluten allergens. For customers, it serves as an affordable, refreshing and nutritious drink.
The soy milk preparation process leaves the product with a beany taste and the increased soy allergic cases introduced other alternative plant based non-dairy alternatives from sources like almond, oats and cashew, which are now acquiring space in plant based non-dairy alternatives market after soy based non-dairy alternative. But as the soy allergy, nut allergy, gluten allergy, raw material availability and cost are becoming constraint for the other plant based non-dairy alternatives, the other sources like chickpea, pea, lupin, can be adapted as a good alternative.
Processing of plant based non-dairy alternatives:
The first non-dairy option based on a pulse that provided nutrition to individuals in places where milk was scarce was soy. Additionally, persons who are gluten intolerant or allergic to milk proteins frequently experience it. Customers can enjoy this affordable, hydrating, and nutritious beverage.
The typical process for producing soy produces a non-dairy substitute that has a beany flavour and a short shelf life. Modern soy non-dairy alternative processing employs contemporary technology and apparatus to enhance nutritional content, storage life, and convenience with reduced beany taste. In order to obtain desired sensory qualities and to eliminate or mask the beany flavour, many processing techniques have been attempted during the development of the plant-based milk substitute.
Common techniques include high temperature vacuum treatment (HTVT), the Cornell hot grinding method (CHG), and the Illinois pre-blanching (IPB) method for removing or deodorising the beany flavour from soy non-dairy alternatives. In the CHG method, the slurry is maintained at 80°C to inactivate lipoxygenase, and in the IPB method, soaked pulses were blanched to inactivate lipoxygenase.
The HTVT removes the majority of volatile compounds (sterols, short chain fatty acids, and sulphur compounds), resulting in a more consumer-acceptable product. In addition, delayed filtering, hot extraction, cold extraction, soaking and blanching, potash, and sodium bicarbonate processing were used to produce soy non-dairy substitutes.
The first step in processing any pulse is to soak it in water for the entire night. It's crucial to add a lot of water throughout the soaking period as well. They will become soft enough to bite after soaking. This action aids in lowering the anti-nutritional component. After soaking, the water is removed, and in subsequent processing—either cooking or roasting—the pulse non-dairy substitute is created.
These procedures will change the final product's flavour, taste, and nutritional makeup. The heated and roasted sample is next processed in a colloidal mill or with another type of grinding apparatus using the appropriate amount of water. By filtering through a mesh strainer or cheese cloth, the finished product is obtained. The simplest way for processing plant-based non-dairy substitutes is this one.
In large-scale production, mostly continuous HTST (High Temperature Short Time), processes often occur rather than normal low-temperature, long-lasting heating processes. Ultra-high temperature heating (UHT), and aseptic packaging further contributed to the production of more shelf-life. These modern methods are more convenient for exporting, distribution and storage. A sub-trend of new plant beverages is the application of a fermentation process to plant based non-dairy alternatives.
For fermented plant based non-dairy alternatives, the boiled plant based non-dairy alternative was cooled to 4 ±2 ° C, then 0.5% non-dairy yogurt starter (Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus or Lactobacillus acidophilus) was mixed and the cultured drinks were incubated for 16 hours at 42 ° C, then chilled at 4 ° C. But in studies it was observed that the flavored pulse milk substitutes have more acceptance than fermented plant based non-dairy alternative beverages. So, such plant based non-dairy alternatives are gaining wide popularity in the market across the world.
The compositional and nutritional properties of a food sold under a specific and common name are specified by identification criteria, despite the fact that many consumers are unaware of them. For instance, the FDA states that the source of the product and the inherent nutrients provided by bovine milk are what characterize "milk" and related milk products. It is technically incorrect to identify items as "milk" if they do not meet the compositional requirements for milk.
In Canada, vegan dairy substitutes are referred to as "beverages" rather than "milks". Supporters argue that using the name "milk" in the labelling of plant-based beverages is perfectly acceptable as long as the source is indicated (for example, "soy milk"), which has sparked a great deal of controversy in United States. Now, the soy based non-dairy alternative or soy milk in the Indian markets will be either labelled as category of plain soybean beverage or composite or mixed or flavoured soybean beverages or soybean - based beverages as per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and hence this similar term might be used for labelling all other non-dairy alternatives that are available in the market.
(Vallath belongs to Food Processing Business Incubation Centre, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur; Shanmugam belongs to Centre of Excellence in Non Thermal Processing, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management – Thanjavur. They can be reached at akalya@iifpt.edu.in )
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