A Horn Of Potato Plenty | Adding Marbling To Fake Meat For An Extra-Realistic Bite

Nov 28, 2024

Dr. Rhett Spear, an assistant professor in plant sciences at the University of Idaho and potato expert, delves into the fascinating world of potatoes. He shares nutritional insights, debunking myths and highlighting the benefits of colorful varieties. The conversation shifts to the challenges of reproducing the textural marbling found in real meat for plant-based alternatives. Dr. Spear discusses innovative techniques like 3D printing that could enhance the sensory appeal of plant-based meats, aiming for a sustainable and delicious future.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Potato Growth

Potatoes grow from cut pieces, not seeds, unlike many other plants.
These pieces must have an "eye" to sprout a new, genetically identical plant.

INSIGHT

Potato Families

White potatoes and sweet potatoes are only distantly related.
Sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family, while white potatoes are in the nightshade family.

INSIGHT

Weather's Impact on Potatoes

Weather significantly impacts potato growth, affecting their size and shape.
Cold temperatures slow growth, while inconsistent conditions can lead to unevenly sized potatoes.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Just in time for Thanksgiving, a potato researcher explains potato varieties, potato nutrition, and some tubular tuber facts. And, irregular, fatty marbling gives meat a unique texture. Recreating that in plant-based products isn’t easy.

A Horn Of Potato Plenty

The potato is a versatile vegetable—baked, roasted, fried, mashed—it can bring something to just about any menu. But, how exactly do these tasty tubers end up on our tables? We’ll give you a crash course in potato science, including how potatoes are grown (hint: not from seeds!) and what scientists look for when they develop new potato varieties.

SciFri producer Kathleen Davis talks with Dr. Rhett Spear, assistant professor in the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Idaho.

Adding Marbling To Fake Meat For That Extra-Realistic Bite

Plant-based meat products have evolved over the past few decades. You can find them in many forms, like sausages, deli meats, and faux chicken nuggets. During the holiday season, no plant-based meat is more famous than the Tofurky Roast, a round imitation turkey.

Despite improvements in flavor for plant-based meat products, there are still lots of challenges to getting fake meats to mimic their real counterparts. One tough one is textural: instilling a marbling effect. This is the effect of irregular fat deposits, which occur naturally in animal meat.

Plant-based meat has a uniform texture by design. Because each product is processed to be a certain way, the randomness and irregularity of fat pockets is taken out of the equation. But some food scientists are working on adding more of this meaty texture to plant-based meat.

Joining guest host Kathleen Davis to discuss the challenges and possibilities for the next stage of plant-based meat is Dr. David Julian McClements, distinguished professor in food science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.