Bar manufacturers and brands are facing many challenges when formulating high protein bars. The main challenge is to select the right ingredients to reach high protein levels while preserving a good taste, soft texture and appealing appearance, while ensuring an efficient manufacturing process. This study investigated the differences between milk proteins, pea proteins, collagen peptides and other hydrolyzed proteins for high protein bars, focusing on purity of the ingredients and its effect on taste, texture and appearance, both after production and during shelf-life.

While most grains, nuts and seeds only contain lower levels of protein (between 10 and 20%), protein concentrates (protein content >50%) but mainly protein isolates and collagen peptides (protein levels >80%) are the ideal choice for high protein bars, as they are able to increase protein levels in a bar very efficiently. Collagen peptides contain more than 91% of proteins, which is very high compared to other protein ingredients on the market. In addition, collagen peptides have been shown to be one of the ingredients, together with MPI (milk protein isolate), hydrolyzed pea and hydrolyzed casein, that can induce fast dough formation by gluing ingredients together and ensures a good dough consistency. Moreover, while most protein sources might have a negative impact on the chocolate color of a protein bar and on smoothness of the bar surface, collagen peptides, MPI and acid casein make sure that a good dark chocolate color is kept and the bar has a good smooth appearance. Next to this, every protein source has a very different and distinct effect on texture of protein bars. While most hydrolyzed proteins have been shown to induce bitterness, collagen peptides didn’t have this effect. While some protein sources lead to graininess, flavour reduction or in general induction of an off-taste, this is not the case for whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate and collagen peptides. Finally, while most protein sources induce hardness, there are only a limited amount of protein sources that induce softness that is consistent during shelf-life (>12 months). This makes collagen peptides unique. However, not every collagen peptide is the same and it is crucial to select the right collagen peptide parameters to ensure the highest bar quality. Moreover, bar manufacturers could leverage the health benefits that collagen peptides bring to the bars, positioning the final products in multiple segments, such as beauty bars, fitness bars, etc. truly revealing the full potential of a functional high protein bar.