AI beefs up veggie burgers as market booms

AI beefs up veggie burgers as market booms

Have a beef with beef? A burgeoning veggie burger industry is using artificial intelligence to propose alternatives. Swiss group Firmenich, one of the world's leading flavor manufacturers, says recreating the sensation of beef relies not only on flavor, texture and color, but also on how it responds to cooking and the way it feels in the mouth. "Finding a protein that resembles meat from a vegetable protein is highly complex," Emmanuel Butstraen, head of Firmenich's flavors unit, told AFP at the company's headquarters in Satigny outside Geneva.

One of the toughest challenges is avoiding an unpleasant aftertaste. Pea proteins tend to release bitterness, which the taste buds are quick to pick up, Butstraen noted. Vegetable proteins can give off hints of green apples or pears, an aftertaste of beans, astringency or even a feeling of dryness, said Jerome Barra, the company's innovation director. To mask these flavors or compensate for them with other tastes, the aromatics experts can call on a vast library of ingredients. Barra likened the computer-logged database to "a piano with 5,000 keys", from which the flavors can be composed.

Barbecue flavor

"Artificial intelligence can generate millions of possibilities," Barra said. He said the algorithms can generate not only a