Using science and technology, NTU scientists are serving up tasty gastronomic delights that are both good for you and the environment. Best of all, these novel foods look and taste like the real thing
by Dr Daphne Ng / Illustration and 3D animation by Vivian Lim
Meat or mushroom?
In the future, steak can be made from the same fungus that produces button mushrooms. The “meat” is produced by growing the fungus on food waste such as soybean skin, wheat stalk and leftover grains from brewing beer. The fungi-based meat has a “meaty” flavour, is more nutritious than other plant-based meats and reduces food waste at the same time.
Nourishing drink or fermented spent grain?
It’s both! A drink made from spent grain. By fermenting the grain with bacteria used to make natto – a traditional Japanese dish made from soybeans – NTU scientists found that they could potentially create a beverage rich in amino acids and antioxidants. Cheers to this piece of good news!
Mayonnaise or a brewing by-product?
If one of your guilty pleasures is fries dipped in mayonnaise, feast on this food innovation – a food emulsifier from spent grain that may replace eggs or dairy in condiments such as mayonnaise, salad dressing and whipped cream. When put to a taste test, mayonnaise prepared with the NTU plant-based emulsifier tasted exactly like store-bought mayonnaise. Plus, it’s rich in proteins and antioxidants.
A little more of this, please
Next time, scream for ice-cream with less of a guilty conscience. That’s because edible oil extracted from microscopic algae – that can’t even be seen with the naked eye – may replace palm oil in food products. Compared to palm oil, microalgal oil contains more polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can help reduce “bad” cholesterol. The microalgae-produced oil by NTU also contains fewer saturated fatty acids, which have been linked to heart disease and stroke.
This story was published in the Oct-Dec 2022 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in PDF format, click here.
