活況の代替肉業界　おいしさの担い手はＡＩ

【サティニーＡＦＰ＝時事】急成長を遂げつつあるベジバーガー業界は、人工知能（ＡＩ）を使って肉の代替食品を開発している。（写真は植物由来の代替肉で作られたバーガー。スイスの香料メーカー、フィルメニッヒ本社で）
　香料メーカーの世界的大手、スイスのフィルメニッヒは、牛肉っぽさを再現するには、風味や質感、色に加えて、調理してどう変化するか、口に入れたときどう感じるかも重要だと説明する。
　「植物性タンパク質の中から肉に似たタンパク質を見つけ出すには、緻密さが求められます」。ジュネーブ郊外サティニーにあるフィルメニッヒ本社で、フレーバー部門の責任者、エマニュエル・ビュストレン氏はＡＦＰに語った。
　ビュストレン氏によると、一番難しいのは不快な後味をどうなくすかだ。豆のタンパク質は苦みが出がちで、味蕾（みらい）がすぐに感じ取ってしまうという。
　イノベーション部門のディレクター、ジェローム・バラ氏は、植物由来のタンパク質は青リンゴや梨の風味がかすかにし、豆の後味、渋味、場合によってはぱさつきを感じさせることもあると説明する。
　これらの風味を隠したり別の味で打ち消したりするために、多種多様な成分が使われる。
　コンピューター上のデータベースで風味をつくり出す作業は、「５０００鍵のピアノ」で作曲するようなものだとバラ氏は言う。
　だがＡＩのアルゴリズなら、単に幅広い風味の組み合わせを生み出すだけでなく、消費者の嗜好（しこう）の変化、技術上・法令上の制約も加味することができる。調香師が思い付かないような多様な組み合わせをはじき出すこともあるという。
　フィルメニッヒのジルベール・ゴスティン最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は「植物由来の食品は、消費における極めて重要な変化です」と語る。
　「この傾向は今後、ますます強まるでしょう」と言うゴスティン氏は、中でも最も成長する可能性が大きいのは、肉類と乳製品の代替品だと指摘した。
　金融大手クレディ・スイスの調査によると、世界の肉類・乳製品の代替品市場はすでに１４０億ドル（約１兆５４００億円）に達しており、２０３０年には１４３０億ドル（約１５兆７０００億円）、２０５０年には１兆４０００億ドル（約１５４兆円）規模に拡大する見通しだ。
　フレキシタリアン（柔軟な菜食主義者）の増加や、食肉生産で排出される温室効果ガスへの懸念から、菜食主義者向けの代替食品市場は急速な成長期を迎えている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/02-12:33）

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 flavour manufacturers, says recreating the sensation of beef relies not only on flavour, texture and colour, 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 flavours 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 flavours 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 flavours can be composed.
- Barbecue flavour -
Artificial intelligence can generate millions of possibilities, Barra said.
He said the algorithms can generate not only a wide range of flavour combinations but also factor in shifting consumer preferences, along with technical or regulatory constraints.
They filter down the combination of ingredients from which the experts can create flavours, he said.
Only then are they road-tested in the kitchen with a chef.
The algorithms can propose multiple combinations that the human expert aromaticians might not have conceived.
AI has notably enabled Firmenich to develop an aroma that replicates the specific flavour of barbecued meat, with the algorithms helping to pin down similar flavours in the plant world.
Plant-based food is a very important shift in consumption, said Firmenich chief executive Gilbert Ghostine.
I see this trend growing stronger and stronger in future, he said, pointing to meat and dairy alternatives among the nutrition trends with the highest growth potential.
According to a study by the Credit Suisse bank, the market for meat and dairy alternatives is already worth around $14 billion globally, will reach $143 billion by 2030 -- and $1.4 trillion by 2050.
With the rise of flexitarian diets and concerns over meat's carbon footprint, the market for vegetarian alternatives is booming under the influence of US start-ups such as Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods, as well as industry giants such as Nestle or Unilever, which have jumped on the bandwagon.
- Market growth -
Steaks, cutlets and other vegetable burgers are highly processed foods whose value depends on their ingredients, which vary from one product to another, Muriel Jaquet, dietician for the Swiss Nutrition Society, told AFP.
The organisation, which works with the Swiss health ministry, recommends eating one portion per day of meat, fish, eggs or alternatives such as tofu.
On vegetarian steaks, it advises consumers to check the salt, sugar and fat content.
After rising 11.4 percent in 2019, the global growth in sales of meat alternatives slowed to 1.3 percent in 2020 but should climb again by 5.1 percent this year and 6.3 percent in 2022, according to market researchers Euromonitor International.
By comparison, meat products -- more affected by the coronavirus crisis -- saw only 0.3 percent growth in 2020, with a more modest recovery of 2.9 percent expected in 2021 and 4.6 percent in 2022.