Novel Protein Sources for Applications in Meat-Alternative Products—Insight and Challenges

Abstract

Many people are increasingly interested in a vegetarian or vegan diet. Looking at the research and the available options in the market, there are two generations of products based on typical proteins, such as soy or gluten, and newer generation proteins, such as peas or faba beans, or even proteins based on previously used feed proteins. In the review, we present the characteristics of several proteins that can be consumed as alternatives to first-generation proteins used in vegan foods. In the following part of the work, we describe the research in which novel protein sources were used in terms of the product they are used for. The paper describes protein sources such as cereal proteins, oilseeds proteins coming from the cakes after oil pressing, and novel sources such as algae, insects, and fungus for use in meat analog products. Technological processes that can make non-animal proteins similar to meat are also discussed, as well as the challenges faced by technologists working in the field of vegan products.

Consumer acceptance of new food trends resulting from the fourth industrial revolution technologies: A narrative review of literature and future perspectives

“…Food production systems, mainly the production of animal-sourced food through livestock farming, have been a significant contributor to climate change and unsustainable development. Therefore, a search is underway worldwide to find alternative technologies and production methods that provide food with a lower environmental footprint while nutritional and sensory characteristics are similar or even better than that of animal products (4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”

Consumer Perception and Acceptability of Plant-Based Alternatives to Chicken

“…A trend identified in this field indicates that consumers have prl-existing negative perceptions of the sensory aspects of PBAs [ 19 ]. Structurally, it is challenging to replicate the “meat-like” texture in a nonmeat product [ 20 ] and PBAs can be porous and loose [ 21 ]. Plant-based alternatives generally taste and look different than meat-based products, often leading to the addition of stabilizers, thickeners, dyes, and salt to achieve a meat-like structure [ 20 ].…”

“…Structurally, it is challenging to replicate the “meat-like” texture in a nonmeat product [ 20 ] and PBAs can be porous and loose [ 21 ]. Plant-based alternatives generally taste and look different than meat-based products, often leading to the addition of stabilizers, thickeners, dyes, and salt to achieve a meat-like structure [ 20 ]. Cordelle and colleagues [ 17 ] found that taste and appearance were the main drivers of persuasion to consume PBAs over meat-based products.…”

Quality attributes of chicken nuggets extended with different legume flours

“…So far, soyabean, is the most widely used legume flour extender (Kurek et al 2022;Ma et al 2022), nevertheless, as a result of increased functionality, other legume based flour (Shoaib et al 2018) are becoming increasingly famous as they all have promising nutritional and sensory properties of food products. Thus, along with soyabean, it is important to screen other legume based flour as extenders to chicken nuggets.…”