Shaping meat analogues: ingredients & texture

Summary

Currently available meat analogues do not yet mimic the texture of meat to a level where they satisfy consumer wishes. The choice of plant-protein ingredients is vital for the meat analogue texture. However, most plant-based ingredients are highly refined and their production requires large amounts of water and energy. Alternatively, this research successfully applied less refined ingredients from mung bean, produced through a process called dry fractionation, in meat analogues. Enzymes further improved the texture of the meat analogues, but their effect was dependent on plant-protein origin. The texture of the resulting meat analogues was quantified by advanced mechanical analysis and an in-house developed image analysis method. Those analyses revealed differences in fibrousness between meat analogues produced from different ingredients and processing conditions. We combined tailor-made protein fractionation methods, application of enzymes, and material science principles, to design meat analogues with textures similar to real meat and best sustainability.