Meat has a unique taste, texture, and aroma. Biochemist explains how plant-based alternatives mimic the real thing

When you bite into a juicy hamburger, slice into a perfect medium-rare steak, or munch on a plateful of chicken nuggets, your senses are probably responding to the smell, taste, texture, and color of your food. For a long time, these four characteristics have distinguished meat from other food groups.

But in recent years, food companies have begun to focus on developing meat substitutes. Many people believe that quitting a meat-based diet will not only improve their own health, but also help the sustainability of the environment.

The two main focuses of the research are plant-based meat alternatives and lab-grown meat. Both pose interesting challenges. Using lab-grown meat requires growing animal cells to produce meat products. Plant-based meat alternatives use plant materials to mimic animal-like structure and flavor.

Major food companies that have developed plant-based meat alternatives that consumers love include Impossible, Beyond Meat, Mosa Meat, and Quorn.

From a scientific point of view, the development of plant-based meat alternatives is of particular interest. That’s because food manufacturers and researchers are trying to create products with the texture, flavor, appearance, and nutritional content of a juicy hamburger or tender chicken fingers.

As a biochemist who teaches students how food provides energy to our bodies, I have focused my research on the composition and manufacturing of these products, and how they mimic animal meat. I’m interested in seeing if it can be done.

Animal meat consists primarily of protein, fat, and water, with small amounts of carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. The animal tissue consumed is usually muscle, which has a unique shape made of protein fibers held together by connective tissue.

The size and shape of protein fibers affect the texture of meat. The amount and identity of natural lipids (fats and oils) found within a particular muscle tissue can influence protein structure and thus the flavor, tenderness, and juiciness of meat. Meat products also contain a lot of water.

Plant-based meat alternatives are typically made using non-animal proteins, as well as compounds that enhance flavor, fat, coloring, and binding agents. These products contain more than 50% water. To produce plant-based meat alternatives, ingredients are combined to mimic animal muscle tissue and additives such as flavor enhancers are added.

Development of meat-like texture

Most meat substitutes are made from soy protein. This is because soy protein is relatively cheap and easily absorbs both water and fat, binding these substances and not separating them. Some companies plan to use other proteins, such as proteins from wheat gluten, legumes (lentils, chickpeas, peas, beans), and seed oils.

Most animal meats contain some amount of fat that adds flavor and texture to their products, so plant-based meat substitute manufacturers often use canola oil, coconut oil, etc. to make their products softer and tastier. , fats such as sunflower oil are often added.

Proteins and fats do not mix well with water, which can cause the ingredients in salad dressings to separate into layers. When using these ingredients, food manufacturers must emulsify or mix them together. Emulsification is essential for proteins, fats, and water to form an integrated network with an attractive texture. Otherwise, your food may end up greasy, spongy, or just plain unpleasant.

Many vegan meat substitutes also use gelling agents, which bind water and fat together. Because it contains starch, it interacts strongly with water and fat, helping to emulsify it. This allows for a more mixed network of protein, fat and water, making it meatier and more appealing to consumers.

Creating a product with a meat-like texture is not just a dump-and-stir process. Because animal meat is primarily muscle tissue, it has a unique spatial arrangement of protein, fat, and water.

To mimic this structure, manufacturers use processes such as stretching, kneading, folding, laminating, 3D printing, and extrusion. Currently, the most common processing method is extrusion.

Extrusion is a method of feeding dry ingredients, such as vegetable proteins or fats, into a machine with a constant stream of water. The inside of the machine rotates like a screw, binding molecules together and converting the structure of the plant material from a spherical shape to a fiber.

Because each plant protein behaves differently during the manufacturing process, some plant-based meat substitutes may use different raw materials depending on their structure.

add savory flavor

Texture is important, but meat has a unique flavor and umami.

A series of chemical reactions called Maillard browning help create the complex, rich flavor of animal meat during cooking. Therefore, additives such as yeast extract, miso, mushrooms, and spices can enhance the flavor of plant-based alternatives by triggering the Maillard reaction.

The aroma of cooked meat usually results from a chemical reaction between sugars and amino acids. Amino acids are the basic components of proteins. Many studies have focused on attempting to reproduce some of these reactions.

To facilitate these reactions, meat substitute developers add certain amino acids such as cysteine, methionine, and lysine, sugars, and browning agents such as the vitamin thiamine. Natural smoke flavors derived from hickory or mesquite can also be added to give meat substitutes a similar aroma.

eat with your eyes

Apicius, a 1st century Roman food lover, said, “We eat first with our eyes.”

This means that even if the texture is perfect and the taste is acceptable, consumers will decide whether to buy and eat vegan meat based on its appearance.

For this reason, food manufacturers typically develop plant-based meat alternatives that resemble classic meat dishes such as burgers, meatballs, sausages, and nuggets. We also add natural colorants such as beetroot, annatto, caramel, and vegetable juices to bring plant-based alternatives closer to the color of traditional meat.

Plant proteins such as soy and wheat gluten do not brown like animal meat. As a result, some food manufacturers plan to increase the proportion of pea and lentil protein they use so that their meat substitutes appear browner during cooking.

With some research, it’s not that difficult to mimic the structure, texture, flavor, and appearance of animal meat. But questions remain. Will people buy and consume them?

Apparently people are looking for plant-based meat. Demand for these products is increasing in countries around the world. The global market is expected to exceed USD 7 billion in 2023 and grow by almost 20% by 2030.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.