Insight into the contribution of proteins, fats and ingredients to the structure and physical stability of vegetarian meat analogues

Despite growing consumer interest in protein-rich alternatives to meat products, plant-based emulsified meat analogues often have sub-optimal texture compared to the meat products they imitate. This is partly due to the knowledge gap on the structure formation, techno-functional characteristics and underlying mechanisms of nontexturized proteins used. These questions are addressed by describing the influence and underlying mechanisms of plant proteins on the structure formation of emulsified meat analogues. The focus is on 3 novel (mung bean, potato, quinoa) protein sources, which are compared both with each other as with 2 traditional (pea and soy) protein sources. First, isolation procedures of the proteins are optimized. Next, in a first phase, intrinsic protein properties regarding thermal aggregation (focus on protein-protein interactions) and emulsification and emulsion-stabilisation (focus on protein-oil interactions) are investigated for all 5 plant proteins. Then, in a second phase, the influence of the proteins on the structure of a lean and an emulsified meat analogue model system are investigated. Finally the texture of emulsified meat analogues with these plant proteins is evaluated and compared with that of a cooked sausage. The results lead to an enhanced understanding of the role of proteins in meat analogues, allowing more targeted product development, and also give insight into the broad application potential of these novel protein sources.