Students create vegan hard-boiled egg

Four students from the University of Udine have created a vegan ‘non-egg’ made from plant-based ingredients as part of an assignment.

Monica Anese, associate professor of Food Technology at the Department of Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, set an assignment called ‘Principles of Formulation’, which encouraged students to design and create a new food that was not yet present in the market.

The vegan food industry has been expanding over the past few years and research into the use of alternative proteins has increased. Francesca Zuccolo, Aurora Gobessi, Greta Titton and Arianna Roi used this as a basis for their ‘non-egg’, which bears a close resemblance to a hard-boiled egg in shape, taste and texture.

Using various legume-derived flours, vegetable oils, a sulfurous vegan salt and a plant-based gelling agent, the students created an egg with a realistic white and yolk. It is high in protein and free from cholesterol, gluten and lactose.

The students are hoping their hard-boiled vegan egg could be available to buy in the future, providing a healthy solution that caters to dietary requirements. The university plans to start negotiations with companies who may be interested in turning the vegan egg into a consumer product.