Oral tribology at multiple length scales has emerged as a new frontier in food scienceto quantify friction and lubrication of food-saliva mixtures, orally administered fluids inthe oral surfaces and is providing fundamental insights into the physics of sensoryperception. Applications of oral tribology ranges from designing healthier foods,creating sustainable alternatives without compromising mouthfeel, tackling foodcounterfeiting and tailoring oral care applictaions for aging populations. In this talk, Iwill first highlight the history and evolution of tribological surfaces including thedevelopment of world’s first 3D soft biomimetic tongue-like tribological surface in ourlaboratory that mimics the deformability, wettability and topography of a humantongue. I will then highlight some of the major challenges today in sustainable foodproduction when using low carbon-emitting plant proteins and how their unpleasantmouthfeel, particularly with respect to dry textural perception i.e. astringency, oftenlinked to high oral friction leads to consumer rejection. The jamming of tribologicalcontact due to aggregation of plant proteins and protein-saliva interaction will becovered. Finally, the talk will highlight new hydrogel-based lubricant innovations thatmay mitigate not only astringency issues but also provide superlubricity, informingthe design of the next generation of pleasurable sustainable plant-based foods andoral care applications.