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Meatless meat- Critical challenges of Plant-Based Meat Alternatives in

New Food Product Development

Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head,

Technical Operations, FoodResearchLab

info@foodresearchlab.com

I. INTRODUTION

Is plant-based meat the future of food? If

yes, Why? Because of plant-based meat's

ability to deliver high-quality protein to

the Post COVID world while demanding

far fewer resources and generating far less

pollution than conventional meat. Do food

manufacturers face hurdles during the new

food product development process? Let's

take a few minutes to read this Food

Research Lab blog to know more about it.

The manufacturing of Plant-based meat

alternatives (PBMA) includes three stages,

creating a meat-like structure, creating a

meat-like appearance, and recreating a

meat flavour. Moreover, the selection of

plant-protein sources and safety controls

are vital for the Production of PBMA.

The structuring process is the most

fundamental PBMA manufacturing step,

as it is the foundation of meat-like texture

formation. The significant feature of

PBMA is the fibrous structure and texture

(1). The techniques used by the food

manufactures as well as newly developed

procedures during the structuring process

is different for various meat analogues.

However, these techniques can be

categorized as either top-down or bottom-

up (2). Top-down is widely accepted for

commercial operations due to its

robustness and ability to produce a larger

volume.

Protein-Based Tofu as chicken

alternative

II. CHALLENGES OF PBMA IN FOOD

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Premixing

Mixing is one of the most dynamic steps in

the manufacturing process of PBMAs.

Plant-based meat substitutes are often

processed, transferred and packaged in a

continuous process. This is a struggle for

products that are sticky and do not flow

easily. Ingredients that degrade upon

exposure to atmospheric oxygen is another

major hurdle. The base mix of PBMA

often contains over 30 different ingredients

with different physical and functional

properties that vary in moisture content,

particle size, rheology and stability (3).

Continuous production processes cannot

deal with frequent recipe changes and too

many individual components that need to

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be premixed. Moreover, the percentage of

soluble and insoluble components in the

premix is important for structure

formation. This array of ingredients

showcases various behaviours when

dispensed, making it difficult to automate

this processing step for a continuous

process (3,4). Manufacturers stick with

batch production methods to prepare

interim mixtures to avoid complications,

which prove extremely costly in the long

run.

Processing

Real meat products require only one

thermal processing, however, PBMA

much more intricate thermal treatments

during the structuring process. A group of

process parameters determines the final

product quality. Twin-screw extruders are

widely accepted for their versatility and

used to achieve higher energy consistency

and uniform heat distribution (3). For

example, the final product's texture is

heavily dependent on the temperature of

the extrusion process, as it involves

various cross-linked reactions and specific

melting temperatures. Shear-induced

structuring methodology achieves a small

size shear cell. An optimum processing

temperature of 95 C and rotating the raw

materials at 20 RPM improved the fibre

structure. The final product produced

through extrusion achieved a thickness of

5-10mm, whereas shear-induced

structuring achieves 30mm thickness (4,5).

However, shear-induced structuring is still

not commercially available and yet brings

out new opportunities to improve the

flexibility in product shape.

Recreating meat-like colour and

flavour

Colour is the main contributor to

perception in taste and overall product

acceptance as it is the first element to be

noticed in food. Meat alternatives should

strive the obtain a similar appearance to

red colour when uncooked and brown

upon cooking. However, most alternatives

containing gluten or soy are yellow or

beige (6). In the Production of PBMA, the

red colour of raw meat is obtained by

adding beet juice or soy leghemoglobin.

Heat stable ingredients, such as caramel,

malt extracts, reducing sugars (upon

Maillard reaction), are usually added to

replicate the final product with a brown

appearance. These colour ingredients also

help in thermal stability and pH sensitivity.

Maltodextrin and hydrated alginates are

also used as colouring agents that help

retain the colour by reducing the colour

migration in the final product (7).

The process of flavour formation is

complex than colour formation. The

flavouring agents can be categorized as

either volatile or non-volatile based on the

aroma and taste. Due to the complexity of

meat aroma, it has proved to showcase a

significant challenge to replicate the aroma

of meat in PBMA (8). Although Maillard

reaction and lipid degradation can be

carried out in the cooking of PBMA, the

slightest differences in PBMA and real

meat displays a great variance in the

resulting aromatic compounds. In addition

to aromatic ingredients such as spices and

salt, manufacturers also add vitamin

thiamine, amino acids and reducing sugars

to create the impression of aromatic meat

in PBMA. Moreover, chicken-like and

beef-like flavours are produced from

hydrolyzed soybean protein.

Shear-induced structuring methodology

achieves a small size shear cell. An

optimum processing temperature of 95 C

and rotating the raw materials at 20

RPM improved the fibre structure.

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Procurement and selection of

plant-protein sources

The structural and functional organization

of PBMA is dependent on protein

properties such as its ability to retain its

moisture, gelation and solubilizing

capabilities. Currently, a wide array of

plant-based proteins are used, ranging

from non-meat proteins to insect proteins.

However, soy and peas are fundamental

sources due to their low costs. As

previously discussed in our previous

PBMA blog, proteins obtained from

legumes such as chickpeas and soybeans

are ideal due to their heightened functional

properties.

Food supply chain

The supply chain has significantly changed

in the last few years as food ingredients

travel farther than ever and must follow

strict regulations. Ingredients suppliers,

retailers and manufacturers in the supply

chain need to be transparent to ensure food

safety compliance. Many organizations in

the food supply chain are looking for new

applications or technology like IoT,

automation, and blockchain to curb food

safety issues. Shortly, technology will

make manufacturers' lives easier with food

safety regulations while attending to

customer demands for PBMA and organic

options while creating a sustainable supply

chain.

REFERENCE

1. Listrat, A., Lebret, B., Louveau, I., Astruc, T., Bonnet,

M., Lefaucheur, L., ... & Bugeon, J. (2016). How muscle

structure and composition influence meat and flesh

quality. The Scientific World Journal, 2016.

2. Dekkers, B. L., Hamoen, R., Boom, R. M., & van der

Goot, A. J. (2018). Understanding fiber formation in a

concentrated soy protein isolate-pectin blend. Journal of

Food Engineering, 222, 84-92.

3. Grabowska, K. J., Zhu, S., Dekkers, B. L., de Ruijter,

N. C., Gieteling, J., & van der Goot, A. J. (2016). Shear-

induced structuring as a tool to make anisotropic

materials using soy protein concentrate. Journal of Food

Engineering, 188, 77-86.

4. Schreuders, F. K., Dekkers, B. L., Bodnár, I., Erni, P.,

Boom, R. M., & van der Goot, A. J. (2019). Comparing

structuring potential of pea and soy protein with gluten

for meat analogue preparation. Journal of Food

Engineering, 261, 32-39.

5. Krintiras, G. A., Göbel, J., Van der Goot, A. J., &

Stefanidis, G. D. (2015). Production of structured soy-

based meat analogues using simple shear and heat in a

Couette Cell. Journal of Food Engineering, 160, 34-41.

6. Kyriakopoulou, K., Dekkers, B., & Van der Goot, A.

J. (2019). Sustainable meat production and processing.

7. Bohrer, B. M. (2019). An investigation of the

formulation and nutritional composition of modern meat

analogue products. Food Science and Human Wellness,

8(4), 320-329.

8. Kumar, P., Chatli, M. K., Mehta, N., Singh, P., Malav,

O. P., & Verma, A. K. (2017). Meat analogues: Health

promising sustainable meat substitutes. Critical reviews

in food science and nutrition, 57(5), 923-932.

Maillard reaction: A

chemical reaction between amino acids

and reducing sugars that gives browned

food its idiosyncratic flavor.