Creation of Next-Generation Plant-Based Seafood Using Emulsion Gel Technology: Omega-3-Enriched Sea Foie Gras Analogs

Plant-based seafood analogs are gaining increasing popularity as replacements for traditional fish and other seafood products due to environmental (stock depletion, pollution, and bycatch issues) and health (bioaccumulated toxins, norovirus, and allergies) concerns associated with them. Several companies have launched plant-based fish products, but the market still lacks alternatives to shellfish and other sea delicacies. In this study, a plant-based sea foie gras (monkfish liver product) analog was developed using duckweed RuBisCO protein and omega-3-rich flaxseed oil to form emulsion gels. These gels consisted of a high concentration of flaxseed oil droplets dispersed within a gelled RuBisCO protein network. It was hypothesized that the high disperse phase volume fraction of the oil droplets and the heat-set gelation properties of the RuBisCO proteins would enable us to create emulsion gels that mimicked the properties of sea foie gras. A natural pigment (β-carotene) was incorporated into the oil phase of the emulsions to mimic the red-orange color of conventional sea foie gras. The structural, textural, and optical properties of real and plant-based sea foie gras analogs were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, dynamic shear rheology, texture profile analysis, and colorimetry. Emulsion gels prepared using 40% flaxseed oil and 10% RuBisCO proteins produced plant-based products that closely simulated the texture and color of the real products. Rheological analysis suggested that the oil droplets acted as active fillers within the protein gels. Our results suggest that emulsion gels may be used to create more sustainable and healthier plant-based seafood products.