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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1473663

Investigating the role of starch in the structuring of meat alternatives from mung bean and pea protein isolates via heat-induced gelation

Provisionally accepted
Mohammad A. Baig Mohammad A. Baig 1Hussein Mostafa Hussein Mostafa 1Nilushni Sivapragasam Nilushni Sivapragasam 1Raouf Aslam Raouf Aslam 1Weibiao Zhou Weibiao Zhou 2Sajid Maqsood Sajid Maqsood 3*
  • 1 Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
  • 2 Department of Food Science and Technology,, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • 3 Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine,, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The structuring of plant-based meat alternatives is a complex process which is highly dependent on qualitative and quantitative proportion of different ingredients. In the present study, starch, protein, and oil concentrations were optimized for the formation of meat alternative (MA) using response surface methodology (RSM). Protein isolates of mung bean and pea protein, & corn starch were used along with sunflower oil to formulate meat alternatives using heat-induced gelation. The protein functionality of mungbean protein isolate (MBPI) and pea protein isolate (PPI) were analyzed. In addition, the effects of constituent composition on the physicochemical properties of alternatives were studied using RSM. The protein content exhibited an elevation with increased levels of MBPI and PPI in 15:15 ratio. Moisture and hardness were chiefly influenced by oil content, as they displayed a decline with increasing oil levels. The color (L*) was principally affected by starch and oil, where the L* reduced with increasing levels of both variables. Springiness was influenced by the interaction of protein ratio (MBPI:PPI) and starch, as it showed a lowest value at the lowest level of protein and the highest level of starch. Chewiness was influenced by the interaction of hardness and springiness. The microstructure analysis showed dense protein matrix in the meat alternative. Overall, the study shows that starch facilitated the structuring of meat alternative with MBPI and PPI which could be promising materials for enhanced textural properties of the meat alternatives.

    Keywords: No underline, Font color: Auto, Portuguese (Portugal) Portuguese (Portugal) Meat alternatives, Plant Proteins, Starch, structuring process, Sustainable food technology

    Received: 31 Jul 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Baig, Mostafa, Sivapragasam, Aslam, Zhou and Maqsood. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sajid Maqsood, Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine,, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

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