Physicochemical characteristics of cost-effective and high-quality plant-based meat analogues prepared from soybean meal and soybean powder.

Abstract

The limited market adoption of plant-based meat analogues (PBMA) stems from high costs and suboptimal texture. Low-moisture extrusion, the dominant industrial-scale production method for PBMA, offers advantages in cost-efficiency and versatility but remains constrained by material-dependent texture limitations. We innovatively employed low-cost soybean meal (SM) and soybean powder (SP) for PBMA production. Optimizing SM:SP ratios (9:1-5:5) enhanced textural, structural, and cost attributes. Evaluated parameters included hardness, chewiness, fiber degree (FD), porosity, water absorption capacity (WA), water holding capacity (WHC), and protein secondary structures. The 7:3 ratio achieved optimal performance: maximal FD (1.53), balanced hardness, highest springiness (0.93), and uniform porosity (34.78 %). Excessive SP (>30 %) compromised structural integrity, increasing brittleness and reducing WHC. FTIR analysis revealed that the 7:3 ratio promoted α-helix formation enhancing elasticity, while β-sheet content (38.74 %) improved hardness. Quadratic polynomial predictive models demonstrated high accuracy (R² = 0.845-0.999) and effectively correlated SP ratios with quality attributes, enabling tailored PBMA formulations.