Quality Evaluation and Allergen Analysis of Plant-based Meat

In order to examine the quality of different types and different brands of plant-based meat, sensory evaluation and instrument testing were performed on 18 commercially available plant-based meat products, and the correlation analysis between the sensory evaluation results and the instrumental analysis results was carried out, and instrumental analysis results were analyzed to further explore the risk of allergens. The appearance, flavor and taste of the indicators could effectively evaluate the authenticity of the plant-based chicken nuggets, plant-based beef patties, and plant-based meat filling categories. The chewiness and shear force in the texture profile analysis (TPA) parameters could effectively evaluate the sensory indicators. The cohesiveness, chewiness (instrument) and shear force results of the plant-based meat could be used to predict the sensory softness, hardness, juiciness, firmness, graininess, fiber, elasticity (sensory) changes of the samples. There were significant differences in the color a^* value of different types of plant-based chicken nuggets and plant-based beef patties before cooking (P<0.05), and the color L^* value of different brands of plant-based meat filling before cooking was less different than a^* and b^* values. There were significant differences in the cooking loss rate of different brands of plant-based chicken nuggets (P<0.05). Among different brands of plant-based meat products, products containing soybean trypsi inhibutor (STI) accounted for 57.14% of the tested samples, products containing β-conglycinin accounted for 64.29% of the tested samples, products containing glycinin accounted for 57.14% of the tested samples, and products containing gluten accounted for 85.71% of the tested samples. This experiment compared the different brands of plant-based meat on the market, and would provide atheoretical reference for the establishment of evaluation indicators for plant-based meat products and potential allergen risk assessment.