Evaluation of Ingredient Quality and its Effect on Plant-based Milk Stability

Plant-based food alternatives are no longer niche products for those with dietary restrictions and the plant-based milk alternative category serves as a major point of entry for new consumers exploring this market. In an effort to stand out in this saturated market, companies continue to innovate through utilizing a variety of diverse plant sources all of which have their own unique attributes, quality, and stability. The objective of this work is to better understand the factors that influence plant-based milk ingredient quality and the impact that it has on plant-based milk stability through testing commercially available plant-based milk bases using a variety of analytical techniques. Plant-based milk bases and plant-based milks produced from those bases were screened for their inherent stability using OxipresTM. Throughout the rapid oxidative stability testing, markers of quality loss including protein and lipid oxidation products were monitored in addition to identifying potential compounds responsible for quality loss using GC-MS scouting methods. As a culmination of this research, shelf-life testing was performed on oat milk treated with and without rosemary extract to investigate if antioxidants can be used to improve the quality and stability of plant-based milks. This work highlights that not all plant-based milks are the same and that special consideration needs to be made when selecting which plant-based milk ingredients to use and how this may affect subsequent plant-based milk stability.