Qualitative and Antioxidant Evaluation of High-Moisture Plant-Based Meat Analogs Obtained by Extrusion

This study investigated meat analogs produced by high-moisture extrusion from mixtures of pea protein isolate and soryz flour, and chickpea flour and hazelnut meal in a 1:1 ratio, at two distinct heating temperature profiles: 40-60-80-100 °C and 60-80-100-120 °C. Physicochemical indicators, texture and chromatic parameters, protein digestibility, and antioxidant activity of the meat analogs were assessed, and antioxidant activity of the product in terms of simulating gastrointestinal digestibility in vitro was performed. The results obtained for the analyzed meat analog indicators were greatly influenced by the type of plant-based raw material used and the heating temperature profiles. A higher temperature regime leads to a slight decrease in the content of nutritive compounds in the final products. All meat analog samples showed good water and oil holding capacity. A decrease in hardness was observed for the mixtures compared to pea protein isolate, which can be attributed to protein content. The digestibility of the processed meat analog proteins ranged between 86.84% and 69.37%. PCA was applied to illustrate the relationships between physicochemical characteristics, protein digestibility, antioxidant activity, texture profile analysis, and CIELab color parameters in high-moisture meat analogs.