Oral Astringency in Plant Proteins: An Underestimated Issue in Formulating Next-Generation Plant-Based Foods

Ensuring the supply of affordable, palatable, healthy, and sustainable nutrients to feed the growing population without transgressing the planetary boundaries remains a key challenge in the food science community. A dietary transition toward low-emission, plant-based foods, with less reliance on animal agriculture, is advocated for sustainability, health, and ethical reasons. A major hurdle for mainstream adoption of plant-based foods is their poor sensorial performance, such as nonjuicy and astringent textures as well as various off-flavors. This review presents the current understanding of astringency and oral friction of plant-based foods. It focuses on plant proteins and their application in plant-based meat and dairy analogs. In addition, the latest advances in the quantitative characterization of astringency using tribology, electrochemistry, and cellular tools are covered. Finally, we examine factors influencing astringency and propose easy-to-implement colloidal strategies that may mitigate astringency issues, thereby underpinning the design of the next generation of sustainable and pleasurable plant-based foods.