Combining Plant Proteins to Achieve Amino Acid Profiles Adapted to Various Nutritional Objectives—An Exploratory Analysis Using Linear Programming

Abstract

Although plant proteins are often considered to have less nutritional quality because of their suboptimal amino acid (AA) content, the wide variety of their sources, both conventional and emerging, suggests potential opportunities from complementarity between food sources. This study therefore aimed to explore whether, and to what extent, combinations of protein ingredients could reproduce an AA profile set as a nutritional objective, and to identify theoretical solutions and limitations. We collected compositional data on protein ingredients and raw plant foods (n = 151), and then ran several series of linear optimization to identify protein ingredient mixes that maximized the content in indispensable AA and reproduced various objective profiles: a “balanced profile,” based on AA requirements for adults; “animal profiles” corresponding to conventional animal protein compositions, and a “cardioprotective profile,” which has been associated with a lower cardiovascular risk. We assumed a very good digestibility of plant protein isolates. As expected, obtaining a balanced profile was obvious, but we also identified numerous plant protein mixtures that met demanding AA profiles. Only for particularly demanding profiles, such as mimicking a particular animal protein, did solutions require the use of protein fractions from more specific sources such as pea or canola. Optimal plant blends could mimic animal proteins such as egg white, cow milk, chicken, whey or casein with a similarity reaching 94.2, 98.8, 86.4, 92.4, and 98.0%, respectively. The limiting constraints were mainly isoleucine, lysine, and histidine target contents. These different solutions offer potential for the formulation of mixtures adapted to specific populations or the design of plant-based substitutes. Some ingredients are not commercially available but they could be developed.

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“…Moreover, the extracted proteins from food waste must meet FDA requirements regarding hygiene and safe consumption, which usually requires that the process of producing edible food from food waste be stringent. Two important factors of food consumption from a nutritional perspective are amino acid intake and protein digestibility, with an emphasis on the content of essential amino acids, as they can only be obtained from food consumption. Lysine is the most sought-after amino acid in food, while methionine plays a major role in cell metabolism and antioxidative protection, making their content in food an important consideration in nutritional intake …”

Is now the time for a Rubiscuit or Ruburger? Increased interest in Rubisco as a food protein

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