Leveraging Indian pulses for plant‐based meat: functional properties and development of meatball analogues

Abstract

Worldwide, the development of next-generation plant protein-based meat analogues has gained popularity because of plant proteins' reliable, sustainable, functional and nutritional benefits. In this work, we study the functional properties of green gram (GG), horse gram (HG) and cowpea protein concentrates (CPPCs) obtained using the alkaline/isoelectric precipitation method and developed the conventional and plant-based deep-fried meatballs. The results indicated that all protein concentrates exhibited superior functional properties. All protein concentrates exhibited a typical U-shaped solubility curve from pH 2 to 9. Emulsification, foaming and gelling properties were found to correlate well with the protein solubility (PS) profile. The least gelation capacity for GGPC was 15%, while HGPC and CPPC required 20% protein to form a gel. Water absorption capacity (WAC), emulsification properties were significantly different for all protein concentrates, but not oil absorption, foaming and protein solubility. A plant-based deepfried meatball formulated using the ratio of 20:20:20 for GGPC: HGPC: CPPC was found to be closely related to the conventional meatballs in terms of taste, flavour and colour. The oil absorbed in plantbased deep-fried meatballs was ~4% lower than in conventional deep-fried meatballs. This research allowed a more in-depth understanding of the functional characterisation of pulse protein concentrates (PPCs) obtained by alkaline-isoelectric precipitation and their potential use in developing plant proteinbased meatball analogues. In conclusion, Indian pulses could potentially offer sustainable options for plant protein-based meat formulations.

Formulation of plant-based meat alternatives and its optimization by experimental design using response surface methodology

“…hardness, adhesiveness and cohesiveness. 50 Therefore, the broad spectrum of textural properties observed in this study underscores the pivotal role of texture in the development and marketing of plant-based meat alternatives. Future research endeavors should delve into the intricate relationship between texture and consumer preference in order to further ne-tune plant-based meat products to suit diverse markets and applications.…”

Leveraging Indian pulse proteins for plant‐based mock meat III: physicochemical characterisation, FTIR spectra and texture profile analysis of meat analogues

“…Green gram, horse gram and cowpea were milled into pulse flour and subjected for protein extraction via alkaline extraction/isoelectric precipitation using spray drying (Spray Dryer, Model No‐1051, Sakthi Instruments, Chennai, India) at inlet temperature of 80 °C and feed flow rate of 20 mL min −1 (Penchalaraju & John Don Bosco, 2022a, 2022b). Protein content of pulse flours and pulse concentrates varied from 23.34% to 26.26% and 78.93% to 87.54%, respectively.…”

“…Alkaline extraction followed by isoelectric precipitation is the commonly used wet processing method to extract the proteins from pulses. Alkaline extraction exhibits highest yield, purity and protein recovery using spray drying (Penchalaraju & John Don Bosco, 2022a, 2022b).…”