Vegan Egg: A Future-Proof Food Ingredient?

Abstract

Vegan eggs are designed with the aim to provide a healthier and more sustainable alternative to regular eggs. The major drivers of this industry are the increasing prevalence of egg allergies, awareness towards environmental sustainability, and the shift to vegan diets. This study intends to discuss, for the first time, the vegan egg market, including their formulation, nutritional aspects, and some applications (i.e., mayonnaise and bakery products). Recreating the complete functionality of eggs using plant-based ingredients is very challenging due to the complexity of eggs. Current, but scarce, research in this field is focused on making mixtures of plant-based ingredients to fit specific food formulations. Nutritionally, providing vegan eggs with similar or higher nutritional value to that of eggs can be of relevance to attract health-conscious consumers. Claims such as clean labels, natural, vegan, animal-free, gluten-free, and/or cholesterol-free can further boost the position of vegan eggs in the market in the coming year. At present, this market is still in its infancy stages, and clear regulations of labeling, safety, and risk assessment are deemed mandatory to organize the sector, and protect consumers.

Nutritional Quality of Gluten-Free Bakery Products Labeled Ketogenic and/or Low-Carb Sold in the Global Market

“…Nutritionally, both have limitations in terms of amino acids compared to egg, but the blended cereal–legumes proteins could offer a balanced amino acid profile [ 66 , 67 ]. This can be attributed to the increased interest towards vegan products, and thus K, K-LC, and LC products are considered to fit within this trend in the bakery sector [ 68 , 69 ]. Decreasing carbohydrates, fat, and protein contents resulted increases in K, K-LC, and LC products.…”

Interaction between Dietary Fibre and Bioactive Compounds in Plant By-Products: Impact on Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability

“…Finally, other recent applications are being developed to improve the technological and nutritional properties of vegan or gluten-free recipes, as in the case of chia fibres that are used as egg substitutes, acting as binding agents. Therefore, the use of vegetable fibre by-products in the food industry offers a range of benefits, both in terms of improving the nutritional value of food products and enhancing their functionality [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ].…”

Unravelling the effect of phenolic compounds in the design of a yeast protein‐based emulsions

“…Despite its wide consumption, the regularly intake of mayonnaise has some important health concerns, such as egg‐related allergies (Turnbull et al ., 2015) and intolerance (Keil, 2007), and the high‐fat content, which rounds the 65–80% (Mishra et al ., 2022). The replacement of egg protein by alternative proteins paired with the reduction in fat content while maintaining the organoleptic and technological properties is the main challenge in mayonnaise production (Boukid & Gagaoua, 2022). Alternatives to animal protein include plant‐based and other food‐technology proteins, such as grains, fungus, insects and yeasts.…”