Physicochemical and Sensorial Evaluation of Meat Analogues Produced from Dry-Fractionated Pea and Oat Proteins

Davide De Angelis; Aleksei Kaleda; Antonella Pasqualone; Helen Vaikma; Martti Tamm; Mari-Liis Tammik; Giacomo Squeo; Carmine Summo

doi:10.3390/foods9121754

Physicochemical and Sensorial Evaluation of Meat Analogues Produced from Dry-Fractionated Pea and Oat Proteins

Foods. 2020 Nov 27;9(12):1754. doi: 10.3390/foods9121754.

Authors

Davide De Angelis¹, Aleksei Kaleda², Antonella Pasqualone¹, Helen Vaikma^{2

3}, Martti Tamm², Mari-Liis Tammik^{2

4}, Giacomo Squeo¹, Carmine Summo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science (DISSPA), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola, 165/a, I-70126 Bari, Italy.
² Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies, Akadeemia tee 15a, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia.
³ School of Business and Governance, Department of Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia.
⁴ School of Science, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia.

Abstract

Pea protein dry-fractionated (P_DF), pea protein isolated (P_Is), soy protein isolated (S_Is) and oat protein (O_P) were combined in four mixes (P_DF_O_P, P_Is_O_P, P_DF_P_Is_O_P, S_Is_O_P) and extruded to produce meat analogues. The ingredients strongly influenced the process conditions and the use of P_DF required higher specific mechanical energy and screw speed to create fibrous texture compared to P_Is and S_Is. P_DF can be conveniently used to produce meat analogues with a protein content of 55 g 100 g^-1, which is exploitable in meat-alternatives formulation. P_DF-based meat analogues showed lower hardness (13.55-18.33 N) than those produced from P_Is and S_Is (nearly 27 N), probably due to a more porous structure given by the natural presence of carbohydrates in the dry-fractionated ingredient. P_DF_O_P and P_Is_P_DF_O_P showed a significantly lower water absorption capacity than P_Is O_P and S_Is_O_P, whereas pea-based extrudates showed high oil absorption capacity, which could be convenient to facilitate the inclusion of oil and fat in the final formulation. The sensory evaluation highlighted an intense odor and taste profile of P_DF_O_P, whereas the extrudates produced by protein isolates had more neutral sensory characteristics. Overall, the use of dry-fractionated protein supports the strategies to efficiently produce clean-labeled and sustainable plant-based meat analogues.

Keywords: dry fractionation; extruder responses; extrusion cooking; functional properties; pea protein; plant-based meat analogues; sensory analysis; sustainability.

Abstract

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