Consuming meat for many is a part of their daily life, but the majority are opting for a healthy version by switching to non-meat foods for catering to their protein needs.
Avoiding or restricting meat in the diet may be challenging, yet with the nutritional, environmental and health benefits of selecting meat substitutes over meat, this challenge will be worth the effort.
Meat substitutes until recently have been consumed primarily by vegetarian and vegan consumers seeking more healthy, sustainable and ethical alternatives to meat. These days flexitarians (people who mostly eat plant-based food and consume meat, fish and poultry occasionally) are also turning to meat substitutes. Meat substitutes, also called as meat analogues, are successful owing to its low cost, meat-like texture and healthy image as it is cholesterol-free. Food scientists are coming up with meat alternatives which have similar mouth feel and truly taste like meat.
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Major players operating in the Meat Substitutes Market include Schouten Europe B.V., Sunfed Ltd, VBites Foods Ltd., Morning Star Farms, Garden Protein International Inc., Quorn Foods, Inc, Beyond Meat, and AMY's Kitchen, Inc.
A patent has recently been released by Sunfed entitled ‘Meat Substitute’. It outlines a meat substitute comprising plant protein, fruit powder and chia seed extract. There are a range of meat substitutes available that use plant proteins to form substances having a meat-like texture, typically mimicking the fibrous qualities found in animal protein. The majority of such products are formed using soy protein together with a number of other additives to enhance flavour and texture, such as gluten. Soy is known to act well under extrusion to create a meat-like texture and has therefore been prevalent in the meat substitute industry. Gluten is also commonly used.
However, allergic reactions to soy and gluten products are becoming more common. Removing soy presents challenges in the formation of products with a desirable texture, and further research is required to find low allergen replacements. This patent attempts to provide an improved meat substitute product. They used their TA.XT2i Texture Analyser to measure the hardness and tensile strength of the samples.
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We can design and manufacture probes or fixtures for the TA.XTplus texture analyser that are bespoke to your sample and its specific measurement.
Once your measurement is performed, our expertise in its graphical interpretation is unparalleled. Not only can we develop the most suitable and accurate method for the testing of your sample, but we can also prepare analysis procedures that obtain the desired parameters from your curve and drop them into a spreadsheet or report designed around your requirements.
For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.
The TA.XTplus texture analyser is part of a family of texture analysis instruments and equipment from Stable Micro Systems. An extensive portfolio of specialist attachments is available to measure and analyse the textural properties of a huge range of food products. Our technical experts can also custom design instrument fixtures according to individual specifications.No-one understands texture analysis like we do!
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