Studies On The Production And Functional Properties Of Plant Based Meat

In recent years,with the understanding of the concept about health,environmental protection and sustainability deepening,reducing the consumption of animal meat products,production and consumption of plant based meat will become an inevitable trend.However,until now,the research of plant based meat stays in primary stage,there are too much complex ingredients,fewer single plant protein materials and other problems.Based on this,soybean protein isolate(SPI),wheat protein(WG),and pea protein flour(PPF)were used to prepare plant based meat with structural and functional properties by using twin-screw hot melt extrusion technology in this research.The macrostructure and microstructure of plant based meat were systematically characterized.We further discussed the connection between the mechanical properties,texture properties,amino acids composition and the macroscopic properties of foods.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)Process optimization of plant based meat preparation by high moisture extrusion: SPI-WG were used as the main raw material to produce plant based meat by a twin-screw extruder,and the effects of different screw speed,heating temperatures and cooling temperature,as well as different SPI-WG protein ratio on the morphology,physical properties and structural characteristics of plant based meat were investigated.Those results showed that with the increase of screw speeds of extruder,the effect of shear was gradually enhanced when materials mixed in the extrusion chamber.With the increase of heating temperature,the viscosity of the molten material decreased gradually and the fluidity increased,which made the fiber structure of plant based meat more obvious.As the cooling temperature decreases,the sample loses water more rapidly in the process of cooling and forming,and the fibrous structure of plant based meat becomes more obvious.When the screw speed was 180 rpm,the heating temperature was 150 °C,the cooling temperature was55 °C,and the ratio of SPI to WG was 50:50,the fibrous and layered structure of the plant based meat was obvious,and the amino acid composition was similar to chicken breast.(2)Preparation of plant based meat reinforced with dietary fiber and study on its structure and functional properties: To further improve the functional characteristics of plant based meat,citrus fiber was used as a natural dietary fiber fortifier.These results showed that after adding citrus fiber,the mechanical properties and juiciness of plant based meat enhanced.Further studies showed that the fiber structure and layered structure of plant based meat were significantly weakened by increasing the addition of citrus fiber,using external observation,scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscope.Meanwhile,the decrease of cooling temperature reinforces the fiber structure of plant based meat.(3)Preparation and study on structural properties of plant based meat based on dry fractionation of pea protein flour: as a kind of sustainable protein raw material,pea protein flour mixed with WG in different proportions were used to produce plant based meat.Those results showed that when the ratio of PPF-WG varied from 10:0 to 0:10,the hardness and chewiness degree of plant based meat ranged from 9.07 to 36.61 N and 4.00 to 10.02 N,respectively,indicating that PPF-WG plant based meat had a large range of structural properties that could be adjusted,and the hardness of plant based meat with PPF-WG ratio of 7:3 was close to that of chicken breast.Meanwhile,the amino acid composition of plant based meat was similar to that of chicken breast,so the plant based meat prepared with pea protein flour can be used as an effective substitute for meat products.