Every food we eat today is a perfect blend of nature, science, and processing technology.
Food processing and food innovation are two sides of the coin when it comes to meeting the need of today’s generation.
PLANT-BASED MEAT is fondly known as better meat by people who opt for the vegan way of eating.
However, in this post, we will see how this meat analogue is made?
The top three challenges that food scientists face of plant-based meat analogues is to replicate the taste, texture, and flavour of the animal meat into these vegan plant-based analogues.
To mimic the red colour of fresh meat beetroot extract, pomegranate powder, and soy leghemoglobin are used.
As the plant cells are rigid and unbending while animal tissues are flexible and elastic it becomes a challenge to give the fibrous texture and juiciness to vegan meat.
However, High moisture extrusion and shear cell technology are two food processing techniques to obtain deliciously similar fibrous meat analogue.
The process involves obtaining plant proteins and transforming them into muscle-like structures by stress and shear involved in the thermo-mechanical extrusion process.
If you want to know more about extrusion click here. Extrusion
In these techniques when heat and pressure are supplied, the heating of barrel, shearing of screws, cooling and die fibration of the extruder makes ground plant protein sources align in a way giving the desired chewy, meat-like taste and texture to the finished product.
The main ingredient is one protein source or a blend of two or three.
Soy, pea, rice and mung bean are the most preferred protein sources.
Pea protein has all the 9 essential amino acids, unlike the other sources.
For the fat that contributes to a major taste of animal meat coconut oil, canola oil and sunflower are put to use.
5 Reasons why plant-based meat is in the upfront.
1. Brands involved in the business of plant-based meat have come up with successful formulations that resemble the taste, texture and nutrient profile of animal meat.
2. The acceptance of these products has improved as more people opt for a sustainable way of living.
3. These plant-based products preserve biodiversity and also help conserve the environment.
4. Consumer preference for vegan meat has increased in recent years due to increased consciousness towards health and the environment.
5. They are a great alternative on the days when you don’t want to see a lot of vegetables on your plate yet enjoy their health benefits.
You can check out the previous posts of this food series here
The post is a part of #MyFriendAlexa by Blogchatter
There will be a brand new section of product review coming up and the post will be a part of #MyFriendAlexa by Blogchatter.
Wow, didn’t know that it has so many processes before it reaches my plate. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. ☺