A sudden shift in the consumer’s dietary behavioral pattern, towards reducing meat consumption post COVID – 19 outbreak has increased the popularity of plant based meat globally. Despite global meat consumption increasing over the previous decades, there is a growing market for vegetarian and vegan alternatives.

In the past, plant based diets were mainly consumed by a relatively small market of vegetarians and vegans, but in recent times, various factors like health benefits, ecological factors, ethical issues, and social aspects are causing consumers to make a shift to sustainable plant based alternatives.

What is Mock Meat / Meat Analogues / Plant Based Meat ?

Mock Meat or Meat Analogues are plant based, Meat-like products that are prepared to resemble the texture, consistency and mouth feel of conventional meat and meat products. It simulates the aesthetic, organoleptic, and chemical characteristics of traditional meat products, which is one of the main reasons why mock meat has gained popularity among the non – vegetarians.

What is Mock Meat made of ?

Meat substitutes are primarily prepared from several plant based sources like Soya, Jackfruit, Wheat protein Gluten, Protein isolates from Legumes / Pulses (Pea, Lentil, Mung bean, Chickpea), and Fungi like mycoprotein, yeasts, and mushrooms .Apart from Protein isolates, mock meat also contains heme, fat, binders and flavoring agents.

What makes plants taste like Meat ?

The key ingredient that gives meat its meaty taste when raw and creates the intense, meaty flavors and aromas when it’s cooked is the “Heme” molecule.

Heme is a nutrient that is abundantly found in the animal tissue, and is also found naturally in all living organisms including plants. The major source of heme in meat is the protein Myoglobin. Plants, particularly nitrogen – fixing plants and legumes naturally contain Heme molecules in their roots. Soybeans, thus make a functionally identical protein known as Soy leg-hemoglobin, which is the short form of legume Hemoglobin. Since the molecule is responsible for imparting the meaty flavor and color, it is used in the production of plant based meat products.

What is the role of Protein in Mock Meat ?

The protein ingredients used for the manufacture of meat analogues is undoubtedly one of the most important components for product identity and product differentiation as it is responsible for imparting a fibrous structure similar to the muscle meat.

Mock meat is prepared mainly with Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) and Isolated Soy Proteins (ISP). Proteins have an important structure-function relationships in terms of hydration and solubility, inter-facial properties (emulsification and foaming), flavor binding, viscosity, gelation, texturization, and dough formation, hence the different plant based composites used to develop plant – based meat alternatives have unique texture profiles.

Are plant – based meat healthy? 

Meat analogues are mainly consumed by people searching for sustainable and nutritious vegetarian food. In addition, many meat analogs qualify as complete proteins and also contain substantial levels of dietary fiber, natural antioxidants and phytochemicals; while possessing a low saturated fatty acid content and no cholesterol. Although mock meat has a good source of proteins and essential amino acids, they often have higher amounts of sodium, when compared to their meat counterparts and are highly processed. Hence research is still on to see if mock meat can be a healthy alternative for conventional meat.

Is Plant Based Meat sustainable ? 

The answer is “Yes”, even though meat is considered as a good source of high biological value protein, it is not sustainable, which is a major factor in the growth of the plant based meat industries, especially in the US and UK. Research studies that focused on the assessment of the carbon footprint of meat analogs concluded that meat analogs are a more sustainable alternative compared to meat and processed meat products as plant based Meat emit less carbon footprint than the production of meat products.

Though plant based meat accounts for a small portion of the Indian market , it’s popularity is growing rapidly among both vegetarians and non – vegetarians. So, if you are a vegetarian or vegan or just someone who is trying to decrease meat in your diet, do taste the meatless meat foods available in the market.

Author:Meera V. is a Food Technologist and goes to quite an extent to tell the food businesses what they can do to improve the food safety and hygiene. She is a Senior Associate Consultant at Food Safety Works and regularly audits food businesses to check on their compliance and also plays a crucial role in regulatory and compliance team.