Glossary
The vocabulary of plant-based food science
A working dictionary of terms used in this course. Search by term or by context — "starch," "fermentation," "umami."
A
- Aerobic
- Requiring oxygen. Aspergillus oryzae (koji) is an obligate aerobe; Lactobacillus bacteria are facultative anaerobes.
- Aerated foam
- A dispersion of gas bubbles in a liquid or solid matrix; aquafaba meringue is a foam.
- Agar
- A polysaccharide from red seaweed; sets a firm, brittle thermoset gel.
- Aleurone
- The protein-rich outer layer of a cereal grain.
- Alginate, sodium
- A polysaccharide from brown seaweed that gels instantly with calcium ions ("egg-box" model). Used in spherification.
- Amadori product
- An intermediate in the Maillard reaction.
- Amino acid
- The building block of proteins. Twenty common ones; nine "essential" because the body cannot synthesize them.
- Amylose / Amylopectin
- The two polymers that make up starch. Amylose is mostly linear, gels firmly; amylopectin is highly branched, stays softer.
- Anisotropy
- Direction-dependent structure or property. The goal of HMMA and shear-cell technologies.
- Antinutrient
- A naturally occurring compound that interferes with nutrient absorption; phytic acid, oxalates, lectins.
- Aquafaba
- The liquid from cooked or canned chickpeas. Contains soluble proteins and saponins; functions as foam, emulsion stabilizer, and binder.
- Aspergillus oryzae
- The koji mold. Secretes a powerful enzymatic toolkit (proteases, amylases, lipases). Foundation of soy sauce, miso, sake.
B
- Bioavailability
- The proportion of a nutrient absorbed and used by the body. Highly variable for non-heme iron, calcium, B12.
- Bioreactor
- A vessel for growing microbes or cells under controlled conditions; central to precision fermentation and cultivated meat.
C
- Caramelization
- Thermal decomposition of sugar alone into bittersweet aroma compounds. No protein required (vs Maillard).
- Carrageenan
- A family of polysaccharides from red seaweed. Kappa, iota, and lambda forms each have distinct gelling behaviors.
- Casein
- The dominant protein family of dairy milk; gives cheese its structure. Now produced by precision fermentation in animal-free form.
- Cellular agriculture
- The production of agricultural products from cell cultures rather than from whole organisms; cultivated meat is the leading example.
- Coagulation
- The transition of a protein from soluble to insoluble, forming a gel or curd.
D
- DIAAS
- Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score. A protein-quality metric replacing PDCAAS in many regulatory contexts.
- Denaturation
- The unfolding of a protein from its native shape — by heat, acid, salt, or mechanical action.
- DHA / EPA
- Docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids; algae are the original source.
E
- Egg-box model
- The mechanism by which calcium ions cross-link alginate or LM-pectin chains, locking them into a gel.
- Emulsion
- A stable dispersion of one liquid in another (oil-in-water or water-in-oil).
- Emulsifier
- A molecule with a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic end that stabilizes the interface between oil and water. Lecithin, mustard mucilage, aquafaba.
- Enteric fermentation
- Methane production by microbes in the digestive tract of ruminants. A major source of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
- Extrusion
- Forcing a dough through a die under heat and pressure. The dominant industrial process for textured plant proteins.
F
- Fermentation
- Microbial transformation of food. In strict biochemistry, anaerobic energy metabolism; in food science, used more broadly.
- Flavor
- The brain's combined perception of taste, aroma, mouthfeel, and trigeminal sensation.
- Fortification
- Deliberate addition of nutrients to foods to address population deficiencies; vitamin D milk, iodized salt, B12 in plant milks.
G
- Gel
- A liquid trapped inside a 3-D network of solid material. Most food gels are biopolymer networks holding water.
- Gelatinization
- The process by which starch granules absorb water, swell, and rupture under heat — releasing amylose into solution.
- Gellan gum
- A bacterial polysaccharide that forms either soft elastic (high-acyl) or brittle clear (low-acyl) gels.
- Gluten
- The viscoelastic protein network formed when wheat glutenin and gliadin hydrate and are mixed.
H
- Hedonic test
- A sensory test in which untrained consumers rate liking on a scale (typically 1–9).
- HMMA / HMME
- High-moisture meat analogue / extrusion. Industrial process for producing fibrous, anisotropic plant meats.
- Hydrocolloid
- A water-soluble long-chain polymer (usually a polysaccharide) that thickens or gels at low concentrations.
- Hydrogenation
- Saturating fat double bonds chemically, hardening a liquid oil. Largely abandoned for food due to trans-fat formation.
I
- Isoelectric point (pI)
- The pH at which a protein carries no net electrical charge. Proteins are least soluble and most likely to aggregate at this pH.
- Isolate (protein)
- A protein product purified to ≥ 85% protein content, typically by alkaline extraction and isoelectric precipitation.
K
- Kala namak
- "Black salt" — a sulfur-rich rock salt that imparts cooked-egg flavor due to natural hydrogen sulfide content.
- Koji
- Steamed grain colonized with Aspergillus oryzae; the enzymatic engine of soy sauce, miso, sake, and a growing world of vegan ferments.
- Konjac glucomannan
- A polysaccharide from konjac corm; sets a very firm, reheat-stable gel with alkali. Basis of shirataki noodles.
L
- Lactic acid bacteria (LAB)
- Microbes that ferment sugars to lactic acid; Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, etc. Essential for sauerkraut, sourdough, vegan yogurts.
- Lecithin
- A phospholipid emulsifier; commercially extracted from soy or sunflower seeds.
- Leghemoglobin
- A heme-containing protein from the root nodules of legumes; produced via precision fermentation for the Impossible Burger.
- Life-cycle assessment (LCA)
- A method for quantifying the environmental impact of a product across its full life cycle.
M
- Maillard reaction
- The cascade of reactions between reducing sugars and amino acids under heat — responsible for crust, color, and roasted aromas.
- Methylcellulose
- A modified cellulose that gels when heated and melts when cooled — backwards from most hydrocolloids. The backbone binder of many plant burgers.
- Mycelium
- The vegetative network of filamentous fungi; naturally fibrous, edible, used for whole-cut plant meats (Quorn, Meati).
N
- Nutritional yeast
- Deactivated Saccharomyces cerevisiae; nutty/cheesy flavor, often fortified with B12, naturally rich in glutamate and 5'-GMP.
O
- Oleogel
- A liquid oil immobilized in a 3-D scaffold of edible structurants (waxes, ethylcellulose, proteins) so that it behaves like a solid fat.
- Osmosis
- Movement of water across a semipermeable membrane down its concentration gradient; the principle behind salt and sugar curing.
P
- PDCAAS
- Protein Digestibility–Corrected Amino Acid Score; a protein-quality metric. Capped at 1.0.
- Pectin
- A polysaccharide from plant cell walls. HM (high methoxyl) sets with sugar and acid; LM (low methoxyl) sets with calcium.
- Phytic acid
- A compound in seeds that binds minerals; reduced significantly by soaking, sprouting, and fermentation.
- Precision fermentation
- Programming microbes (yeast, fungi, bacteria) to produce specific target proteins at scale; the basis of modern animal-free dairy.
R
- Retrogradation
- The slow re-association of starch chains after cooking and cooling, leading to firming, syneresis, and staling.
- Rhizopus oligosporus
- The mold used to ferment tempeh. Knits cooked beans into a firm cake, develops nutty flavor, reduces antinutrients.
S
- Saponin
- A class of plant glycoside that lowers surface tension and contributes to foaming in aquafaba and quinoa cooking water.
- Seitan
- A meat-textured food made from vital wheat gluten; the original "wheat meat."
- Shear cell
- A device that applies steady simple shear to a heated protein mass, producing fibrous, anisotropic structure. An alternative to extrusion.
- Smoke point
- The temperature at which an oil begins to visibly smoke, indicating thermal decomposition of fatty acids.
- Syneresis
- The weeping of liquid out of a gel as the network contracts.
T
- Tempeh
- A fermented bean cake made by inoculating cooked beans with Rhizopus oligosporus; firm, sliceable, deeply flavored.
- Texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
- Defatted plant flour processed by low-moisture extrusion into dry, sponge-like granules or chunks.
- Thermoreversible / Thermoset
- A thermoreversible gel melts on reheating (agar, gelatin); a thermoset gel does not (egg whites, methylcellulose, alginate).
- Triangle test
- A discrimination panel in which judges identify which of three samples is different from the other two.
- Triglyceride
- The dominant form of dietary fat: a glycerol backbone esterified to three fatty acid tails.
U
- Umami
- The savory fifth basic taste, mediated by the T1R1/T1R3 receptor in response to glutamate and certain ribonucleotides.
V
- Vital wheat gluten
- Dehydrated wheat protein, ~75% pure. The starting material for seitan and many meat analogues.
W
- Water activity (aw)
- The proportion of "free" water in a food, on a 0–1 scale. Determines microbial growth, reaction rates, and shelf life.
Y
- Yuba
- The protein-fat film that forms on the surface of heated soymilk; lifted off and dried to make tofu skin.