Vegan Egg Whites? The Science of Aquafaba

From burgers to marshmallows, there is a vegan substitute for practically everything. One of the most interesting vegan substitutes actually isn’t made in an lab. Aquafaba is the juice in a chickpea can and it is being used as an egg white substitute. Keep reading to find out more!

History of Aquafaba

To create the vegan egg whites that we know now, there was a long journey. Past dupes for egg whites used banana and flax seeds but those options were not neutral in taste and didn’t whip like egg whites. In 2014, a French singer by the name of Joël Roessel posted a video online of him making a dessert out of chickpea foam and ganache. A vegan in India by the name of Goose Wohlt refined the recipe for meringue that was made from chickpea water. The recipe then was first firmly published to a vegan blog called Slate. Now why is it called Aquafaba? The name is quite simple. The two parts of the name are ‘aqua’ and ‘faba’. It connects two Latin words: aqua for water, faba for bean.

Bean Juice Science

As stated before, aquafaba is the leftover juice in a chickpea can. Chickpeas and eggs both contain globulins and albumins that are used to create foams such as meringue. The best aquafaba to use as an egg replacement is chickpea aquafaba. Chickpea aquafaba has saponins which helps create a stable foam. Chickpea aquafaba also has the most neutral flavor. When you start mixing the aquafaba, it has the same foamy white appearance as egg whites. If you are going to make a vegan dessert, make sure you have a cup of beans!

He, Yue, et al. "Standardization of aquafaba production and application in vegan mayonnaise analogs." Foods 10.9 (2021): 1978.

Shim, Youn Young, et al. "Aquafaba from Korean soybean I: A functional vegan food additive." Foods 10.10 (2021): 2433.

Echeverria-Jaramillo, Esteban, et al. "Revalorization of the cooking water (Aquafaba) from soybean varieties generated as a by-product of food manufacturing in Korea." Foods 10.10 (2021): 2287.

APA