BoostDairy – Boosting dairy side stream value through hybrids

Plant‑based dairy analogues are emerging on the market. However, purely plant‑based products often face challenges compared with traditional dairy products. Dairy processing generate large volumes of side streamswhich could be used in hybrdi products. Hybrid products that combine dairy and plant components offer a promising pathway to reduce environmental impact while retaining important technological and nutritional benefits.

By: Anne Lau Heckmann

BoostDairy addresses the opportunity by exploring how dairy processing side streams can be used as functional and nutritional bases for hybrid plant‑based dairy analogues. While dairy nutrients are well characterised in conventional products, it is not yet known how they behave when processed together with plant materials, nor how interactions between dairy components—particularly minerals—and plant biomacromolecules influence structure formation, processability, and bioavailability.

The objective of BoostDairy is to develop a mechanistic understanding of these interactions and their implications for processing, structure, and nutritional quality. The project combines food analytics, dairy and plant protein science, structural characterisation, and digestion studies. Hybrid product prototypes are developed such as beverages, yoghurt‑type gels, and high‑viscosity systems. Processing effects, structure formation, and physical properties are characterised as a function of the side stream used. Additionally, in vitro digestion models are used to assess protein digestibility and micronutrient bioavailability as influenced by formulation and processing.

BoostDairy is expected to deliver new scientific insight into the valorisation of dairy side streams in food applications and provide a knowledge base for developing novel hybrid products.