Food Technology Archives

Written by Suhail Jindran & Reena Sharma, Ph.D. for Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

The rapid increase in meat consumption shed light on the resource demand of meat production. Cattle are responsible for about 6.52% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (3.19 Gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents) and the production of 1 kg of beef causes 26.5 kg CO2 emission and needs 15,000 litres of water (equal to 50 days’ household water use per capita in EU). Many researchers suggest that meat consumption need to be decreased to protect and preserve the environmental resources.

So, let’s go behind the scenes to find out how the Plant-Based Meat Magic is done… Meat analogues are based on plant-based proteins and come in various shapes and sizes. But what does the production process look like? And what is the difference between Texturized Vegetable Proteins (TVP) and High Moisture Meat Analogues (HMMA)? Get a glimpse behind the scenes in the following infographic:

Even though meat substitutes are available in numerous forms and consistencies, they are mostly based on two types of plant-based proteins: Texturized Vegetable Proteins (TVP) and High Moisture Meat Analogues (HMMA).

TVP is known for its dry consistency and long shelf life when stored under normal ambient conditions. It is mostly offered as crumbles, flakes or even strips. As a result, it is suitable for several dishes ranging from the classic spaghetti Bolognese to vegan chicken breast. When preparing TVP-based products, they need to be soaked in water or liquid as TVP requires dehydration before use.

HMMA on the other hand is characterized by its high proportion of moisture. It typically consists of 50-80% of water which is about the same as lean meat. Therefore, it is used for many ready-to-eat meat dishes.

Shandi Global was born out of years in the research and development to fulfil the gap found in the plant-based meat market. The target market for plant-based meat includes vegetarians, vegans, non-vegetarians who are seeking to reduce their meat consumption. Shandi Global does not believe in changing human behaviour towards their diet, but instead offer a huge choice by providing a 100% plant-based meat which does not contain any artificial ingredients.

The founders Dr. Reena and her husband Dr. Gaurav both spend over a decade in the food tech and science industry and noticed that the emergence of Plant Based Meat had several flaws and missing elements with a limitation to what the end consumer could prepare as most companies were offering only mince products or burgers and sausages while some were offering soy products with lots of sodium, artificial flavours and additives. This made the couple to think and utilise their combined years of expertise in the food science industry to start deep research to identify the missing links through latest technology and discover each molecule found in meat and in pea protein to match 100% the meat analogue in texture, flavour and appearance.

They developed a complete amino acid profile: Each protein is different due to its precise composition of amino acids. Each amino acid has a very specific function in our body. Hence having high number of proteins is not enough to build muscles and repair body tissues. Right protein with right balance of amino acids is a must to be called as nutrition.

At Shandi, meat does not only contain high protein, but also right proteins with 90% of amino acids in same composition as meat. It has high digestibility like meat and dairy so that nutrients are quickly absorbed.

Today the company is the first in Singapore to have the latest state-of-the-art technology with a patented and custom-built extruder machine that is capable of producing whole slabs of meat like steaks, breast meat or our signature Chicken Drumsticks ™. Our technology differentiates us from the others, as a majority of producers are only “Texturized Vegetable Proteins” (TVP) while we are a step ahead of adapting both TVP and “High Moisture Meat Analogues” (HMMA). The difference in both methods is; TVP is released and directly cut at the nozzle plate, HMMA requires a special cooling die. In the cooling die the material is cooled down while being forced into a laminar flow. This way, a meat-like structure is created, and our custom-built machine does what we have designed it for.

To sum up, plant based meat analogue (i.e., plant-based meat alternatives or substitutes, or vegan meats) are becoming more and more popular. The consumption is also increasing while the primary role of meat analogues is to replace the meat component in meals where the appropriate nutrient content and hedonic value will be provided as well. Using micro biotechnology, it is possible to reverse engineer naturally found molecules in various legumes into a full-bodied muscle meat which looks, feels and cuts exactly like any meat product.

MEAT ANALOUGES

Written by Priyanka Prajapati, Dr Meenakshi Garg and Dr Rajni Chopra

Digilah (Thought Leadership)

Author’s Email: meenakshi.garg@bcas.du.ac.in

Global Meat consumption continues to perceive an upward surge as demand is driven by population growth, individual economic gain, and urbanization. However, meat production would have a severe environmental impact and high ecological footprint due to increased land and water resources used during livestock rearing. Moreover, a shift in consumer preference has been observed towards consuming plant-based products due to awareness about health hazards associated with red meat. This created a significant break for food industries to develop a plant-based meat analogue that contains similar textural and nutritional attributes present in meat. According to the report published by Mordor Intelligence, the market for meat substitutes is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.91% up to the year of 2026. The term “meat analogue” is defined as a meat-free food product resembling texture, flavour, haptic experience, and nutritional status to original meat products. The result obtained from life cycle assessment studies depicts that meat analogues could be proved as a sustainable alternative to animal-derived meat as they have considerably lower environmental footprints. Different types of Plant protein currently employed in manufacturing meat alternatives are soy protein, Wheat gluten protein, and pea protein. Many nutritional components like high-quality protein (egg protein and whey protein), vitamin B12, calcium and iron have been incorporated in meat analogues to compete with original meat nutritive value. However, manufacturers have to depend on extensively processed ingredients or/and genetically modified (GMO) material in endeavoring meat-like texture and other sensory characteristics. Leg hemoglobin is a legume protein that carries heme molecule. This molecule is produced from GMO yeast and governs meat analogs’ color, texture, and flavour. Based on the study of Egbert and Borders (2006), the given formulation produced meat analogue having improved sensory qualities.

S.No	Ingredient	Amount (%)
1.	Water	(50%- 80%)
2.	Plant- based Protein	(10%-25%)
3.	Non textured Protein	(4%-20%)
4.	Flavour compounds	(4%-20%)
5.	Lipids	(0%-15%)
6.	Binding agents	(1%-5%)
7.	Colouring Compounds	(0%-0.5%)

Texturization of plant protein is an important step in achieving similar texture, appearance, and taste as like original meat products. Plant-based proteins need several transformational changes to achieve the fibrousness of meat muscles. The native globular shape of plant protein is converted to the linear shape of textured protein by applying different texture profiling techniques (e.g., extrusion technique, electro-spinning, proteins hydrocolloid blends, high temperature conical simple shearing, freeze structuring, and 3D Bio-printing). The standard method of modifying plant proteins are electro-spinning and extrusion. Electro-Spinning produces thin fibers of plant protein by using a blend of protein solutions assembled into meat analogues through binding materials. Due to its complexity and high manufacturing cost, this method was not suitable for large-scale production.

The extrusion technique is predominant because of its robustness and versatility to produce different kinds of products. This technique involves modifying the protein configuration by undergoing several changes in its structure like (denaturation, unfolding, crosslinking, and alignment). The viscoelastic mass of plant protein is extruded in one or twin-screw extruders and involves various operational steps like (compression, shearing, heating, and cooling) to impart meatiness. This process offers several advantages like high product yield, affordability, and is energy efficient.

Bio-printing and freeze structuring are some of the emerging techniques to modify plant protein’s structure. Bio-printing is also known as 3D printing, which involves digital modeling of food formulation. Paste of Plant protein is filled in the cartilage that builds the structure of meat analogue. The major drawback faced by the Bio-printing technique is its high cost of production, complexity in spatial structure, and scalability. On the other hand, freeze structuring produces meat analogues that mimic the original meat product by freezing the protein solution, followed by the formation of ice crystals that produce porous, well-aligned and interconnected fibers of plant-based protein.

The primary requisite of a plant-based meat analogue is the proper textural profiling which mimics the texture of muscles fibre and is responsible for the characteristic meaty flavour. The intended applications of meat analogue and type of plant protein determine the technique used for texture profiling. The ongoing research has already overcome many challenges of meat analogues products like (improving microstructure, taste, and healthiness) and affordable product price and increased product convenience. However, certain technological barriers and devoid of regulatory measures are some of the sectors that need improvement.

REFERENCES

Boukid, Fatma. (2021). Plant-based meat analogues: from niche to mainstream. European Food Research and Technology. 247. 10.1007/s00217-020-03630-9.
Kyriakopoulou, K., Dekkers, B. and Van der Goot, A.Z. Plant-Based Meat Analogues. Sustainable Meat Production and Processing, Chapter-6, 103–126. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-814874-7.00006-7
Sun, C., Ge, J., He, J., Gan, R., & Fang, Y. (2020). Processing, Quality, Safety, and Acceptance of Meat Analogue Products. Engineering.7(5): 674-678
Mordor Intelligence, Meat substitutes market – growth, trend and forecast (2021 – 2026). https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/meat-substitutes-market
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2019/12/20/what-the-fdas-decision-about-soy-leghemoglobin-means-for-impossible-burger/?sh=21d7f89957f6