Multicriteria decision analysis: the potential of compounded plant-based gels for egg protein substitute

This study systematically evaluated the gel-related properties of composite gels prepared from soy protein isolate (SPI), mung protein isolate (MPI), and chickpea protein isolate (CPI) using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach, aiming to explore their potential as alternatives to whole egg gel (EG). The results demonstrated that with increasing SPI concentration, the rheological properties of the plant-based gels became highly comparable to those of EG. Additionally, the texture properties, water-holding capacity (WHC), and gel strength of the composite gels were significantly improved, exhibiting functional characteristics similar to those of EG. The EG-like microstructure it forms may be a key factor in the superior gel properties observed in composite gels. Furthermore, multi-criteria decision analysis revealed that the SMC-852 exhibited the highest closeness coefficient (C value), indicating its optimal overall performance among all experimental groups and its strong potential as a natural egg product alternative. The results of this study demonstrated that the similarity of plant-based egg alternatives to natural egg products can be effectively enhanced through the complementary nature of different plant proteins in terms of their functional properties. This provides important theoretical support for the development of new plant-based food products in line with the concept of sustainable development.