Would you like to help us profile the metabolomic and sensory architecture of edamame taste for over 200 accessions of Edamame beans? How are they different in their composition and how do they taste?

A sustainable shift towards plant-based foods requires incorporating multiple plant-based protein sources in one’s diet. Edamame, a specialty soybean has the highest protein content amongst vegetables, making it an excellent candidate from a nutritional perspective. In Europe, the consumption of edamame is increasing, but it is mostly available as imported frozen products. The reliance on imports results in a higher carbon footprint and limits control over production methods, traceability, product quality, and food security. Lack of germplasm or suitable varieties is a major constraint in edamame production in countries outside Asia, meaning that local produced fresh and frozen edamame is unavailable to consumers in Denmark. 

This MSc thesis will be linked to a bigger project “Tasty Beans”, which aims to identify and then evaluate soybean accessions with high adaptability potential to Danish growing conditions. The project run is 2025-2026 and combines genomic, sensory, metabolomic and consumer analyses in an effort to unravel the characteristics of approximately 250 accessions of edamame beans and assess important attributes for consumer liking and factors affecting purchase intent.

Some of the activities of this MSc thesis may include (depending on the project extent/ECTS): 

• Sensory lexicon development 
• Sensory panel leading and training
• Profiling selected attributes with trained panellists 
• Analyse samples with 1H NMR 
• Running consumer testing
• Data analysis for Sensory and/or Consumer data