Engineering Processes for Plant-Based Meat Analogs: Current Status and Future Outlook.

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Plant-based meat analogs (PBMAs) offer sustainable and healthy alternatives to conventional meat.
• Consumer acceptance is limited by PBMAs' inability to replicate meat's texture, juiciness, and sensory attributes.
• Key challenges include fibrous structure, tenderness, moisture retention, lipid distribution, and mouthfeel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how processing technologies and equipment design influence the meat-like properties of PBMAs.
• To analyze high-moisture extrusion (HME) and other fibrous structure creation techniques.
• To identify challenges and propose future directions for PBMA processing.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of high-moisture extrusion (HME) mechanisms, equipment, and parameters.
• Review of alternative techniques for creating fibrous structures in PBMAs.
• Examination of the interplay between equipment parameters, ingredients, and product characteristics (e.g., die design, shear, moisture, temperature, gas).

Main Results:

• Detailed analysis of HME processing for PBMAs.
• Identification of critical processing factors influencing PBMA quality.
• Highlighting challenges in scalability, cost-effectiveness, molecular interactions, and authenticity.

Conclusions:

• Optimizing processing technologies and equipment design is crucial for enhancing PBMA sensory attributes.
• Addressing technical and commercialization barriers is necessary for widespread adoption.
• Advancing PBMA processing will lead to more consumer-acceptable products.