Malt, a common ingredient in beer, is being created by Muntons to aid in producing plant-based meat that is pegged as highly sustainable. Muntons utilizes a 100% environmentally sustainable malt derived from British barley and wheat to help manufacturers create plant-based burgers, sausages and sliced deli beef offerings.

The plant-based meat industry is constantly innovating to meet market demands from both consumers and environmental needs. Alternative meat launches are booming in Europe after the pandemic, doubling new product development launches in Q1-22 compared to 2019, states Innova Market Insights. 

“The plant-based food industry is going to continue to grow. It will become more widely available and more easily accessible. Consumers are going to continue to turn to recognizable ingredients and demand transparency on wher they come from,” Janine Roffey, communications manager at Muntons tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Moreover, reports have shown that some common ingredients used in plant-based meats can harm the environment, giving malt a space to grow. 

Muntons has honed in on malt to create its plant-based meats.  Malted plant-based power
Muntons malt range extends from grain malts to liquid and powdered malt extracts, all of which can be implemented for achieving a plant-based equivalent to meat’s flavor, texture, color and mouthfeel. 

“It has become a recognizable nourishing ingredient to many generations and appears in many well-known and loved food and drink brands across the world,” says Roffey. 

The grains are soaked, sprouted, kilned and then processed into plant-based ingredients. 

Through the malting process, sugars, enzymes and amino acids are unlocked from the grain to give the nutrition and flavor of the meat.

The flavors come from the Maillard reaction, a reaction between the reducing sugars and plant-based amino acids during the malting process.

“PlantMalt ingredients have flavor-enhancing properties thanks to the naturally occurring glutamates inside the grain that are unlocked through the malting process; which can allow the creation of a more flavorsome product,” voices Roffey. 

Munton was inspired by flexitarians who gravitate more toward plant-based meat options as the industry grows. “Flexitarians make up 42% of the plant-based market and are responsible for driving the trends,” highlights Kate Dixon, head of marketing and innovation for Muntons.

Malt’s functionality over others
While plant-based foods have been proven to reduce GHG emissions compared to their classic animal meat counterpart, different ingredients used for protein creation have varying levels of environmental impact. 

The most commonly used ingredients for plant-based proteins include pea, brown rice, mung bean and faba bean – each used as a meatless protein source in the Beyond Meat brand. 

Rice has one of the most negative impacts of any plant-based protein ingredient. According to Food Print, rice requires a lot of water and microbes in flooded rice paddies produce methane, some of which is emitted into the atmosphere. 

According to HeaLabel, “malt production is relatively sustainable since there is no known significant damage to air, water, land, soil and forests.”

“We created a range of products that have substantial benefits in application. PlantMalt presents a range of clean-label, sustainable solutions to overcome some of the well-known challenges in the plant-based food industry,” says Richard Platt, senior product development technologist at Muntons.

Using malt as a plant-based protein option builds opportunities for reducing GHG emissions. Recently, companies focused on this target have been ramping up carbon sequestration solutions associated with barley production in Ireland.

Boortmalt and BASF partner on climate-smart agriculture to decarbonize barley (foodingredientsfirst.com)