Food as soft materials
Food is a complex soft matter which we interact with daily, and understanding their properties can unlock exciting new directions in fields such as food engineering and molecular gastronomy. I have been particularly interested in engineering the mechanical properties of animal-sourced foods using plant-based alternatives, by combining disciplinary insights from soft matter physics, rheology, and materials science. To this end, I worked as a R&D intern at a plant-based food start-up, Motif Foodworks, where I studied the mechanical properties of melted cheese, and studied the viability of zein, a plant-based protein found in corn, as a plant-based substitute to cheese. I also studied the reverse-engineerability of meat tissues using plant-based ingredients at MIT, which was supported by the Lemelson-Vest Award ($10,000) and the Sandbox Innovation Fund Award ($2,500).
Plant-based cheese
The melting properties of cheese have been a difficult target to replicate using dairy-free ingredients, with many commercial products failing in this regard. At Motif, we studied the viability of zein aggregates as a dairy-free alternative that can mimic the meltability of cheddar cheese. As a R&D intern, I introduced the use of van Gurp-Palmen plots to fingerprint the thermo-rheological profile of cheese and zein-based formulations, and developed a phase diagram for zein-based food composites in aqueous media. I also extensively studied the non-linear rheology of melted cheddar cheese, and helped establish a benchmark for plant-based cheeses [1].
At Motif, I developed structure-property relationships in zein-based food composites for replicating the stretchability of melted dairy cheese.
Plant-based meat
At MIT, I studied the replicability of the texture of animal-sourced meats using plant-based ingredients. I discovered two main bottlenecks: 1) the non-linear mechanical properties of soft tissues (i.e. the “textural” portion that we feel in our mouth when we masticate on meat) remained largely unknown, and 2) existing plant-based alternatives also lacked nutritional fats and proteins found in animal-sourced meats. To address this problem, I studied the non-linear mechanics of soft tissues, and developed some guidelines on replicating these textures using composite hydrogels [2], on which you can find more details here. Using this platform, I have demonstrated the possibility of a plant-based food composite which is nutritionally rich in proteins and fat, and which can replicate the compression-resistance of soft animal-sourced meats, shown below.
Demonstration of a plant-based food platform I designed as part of the Sandbox program at MIT, which is nutritionally versatile and can stiffens under compression like animal meat tissue.
References
- Song, J.. “Non-linear rheology of melted cheddar cheese.” Journal of Food Engineering. 391, 112450 (2025)
- Song, J.., Deiss-Yehiely, E., Yesilata, S., McKinley, G. H. “Strain stiffening universality in composite hydrogels and soft biological tissues.” Nature Physics. In press (2025)