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KTU PhD student from Peru: making meat alternatives is a creative challenge

Important | 2025-06-06

“You Lithuanians eat after you just ate,” says Erika Keiko Martinez Vargas with a laugh, recalling her first encounters with the Lithuanian way of family meals. Coming from Peru, she thought she knew what a full dinner looked like: “I used to think Peruvians ate a lot, but sitting at a Lithuanian family table can feel never-ending”. These days, she knows better and always leaves space for the second and third rounds.

Adapting to life in Lithuania has meant more than getting used to Lithuanian dishes. Having lived her entire life in a massive city, Erika found something new here – calmness and closeness to nature: “Now I can visit a lake or a forest just minutes away – that feels like such a luxury to me”.

KTU PhD student Erika from Peru
KTU PhD student Erika from Peru

But some things remain irreplaceable. “I can’t help going back to the topic of food. It’s truly one of the things we Peruvians are the proudest of. I try my best to make some Peruvian dishes at home every once in a while, but it’s not the same,” says Erika.

Initially, her family had doubts about her move so far from home, but they changed their opinion after visiting. Experiencing Erika’s everyday rhythm helped them understand why she chose to stay in Kaunas.

“We went kayaking in the river, then stayed overnight at my in-laws’ homestead, where we ate berries from the bush and cooked skewers on the barbecue. It doesn’t get more Lithuanian than that,” she says.

Turning hemp waste into meat alternatives

Erika is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), conducting her research at the university’s Food Institute. Her academic path, however, started from a much broader interest. “Since a young age, I’ve always been attracted to life sciences. I find nature very intriguing,” she explains. During her studies, she explored environmental science, biotechnology, drug development. But it wasn’t until her final semester of engineering that she discovered food science.

Her current research focuses on developing meat alternatives from hemp press cake, a byproduct of the hemp oil industry. By combining fermentation with wet extrusion, she applies both biotechnological and industrial techniques to turn a byproduct into something usable and nutritious.

“I’ve been interested in plant-based foods for a long time. While I’m not vegan or vegetarian, I started consciously reducing my meat intake around ten years ago. I also really enjoy cooking and like the challenge of using plant-based ingredients as alternatives to meat. There’s something very creative about it, and I like that,” explains PhD student.

Erika Keiko Martinez Vargas
Erika Keiko Martinez Vargas

Lithuania turned out to be a good place to keep exploring that interest. When Erika first arrived, meat alternatives were almost non-existent in shops. “Now, there are more and more accessible options. I think this trend will continue to grow, and consumers will be more open to trying unusual or less common ingredients,” she says.

Her project also touches on environmental concerns. Reusing industrial byproducts such as hemp press cake aligns with sustainability goals, and to Erika, it adds even more meaning that the material she works with is culturally familiar in Lithuania. Hemp has traditionally been used here for everything from textiles to food, so it carries a strong sense of local heritage. That connection, she feels, makes her research relevant not only globally but also within the Lithuanian context.

What it means to be a researcher

Her line of research also made Erika reflect on her long-term plans.

“It took me some time to figure out what my ideal career path would be, but I believe I’m well suited to be a researcher. In the end, it’ll come down to where I can work on a project that I’m truly passionate about,” says a KTU PhD student from Peru.

Erika in Vilnius
Erika in Vilnius

That passion, however, can sometimes feel isolating. Erika knows how hard it is to explain complex research to people outside her field – and how important it is to try. “You feel connected to your research, but it can be lonely when others don’t really understand what you’re working on. That’s why I think getting results is just half the work. Communicating your science – making it understandable to people – is what makes it count,” she explains.

This effort to connect through science is also what kept her grounded during uncertain times. “When the COVID-19 pandemic started, it was difficult to watch how people turned on each other or tried to take advantage of the situation. I tend to be a bit pessimistic, so it felt especially dark. But seeing how the global scientific community came together so quickly to develop a vaccine, that gave me hope. It kind of restored my faith in people,” recalls the young scientist.

That hope coexists with a strong sense of critical thinking. Erika does not take science as a fixed or complete truth, especially when it overlooks knowledge outside the mainstream. “I think our current scientific understanding, while reliable, is still very Western and biased. There’s a lot of traditional knowledge from different cultures that gets ignored simply because it doesn’t fit into our definition of science. That’s something I’d like to see change,” says Erika.