Soft matter physics approaches for creating plant-based meat analogs

Interest in meat analogs has grown as consumers demand foods that are better for the environment, health, and animal welfare. However, many consumers are not incorporating meat analogs into their diets because they do not accurately simulate the sensory attributes of real meat. An improved understanding of the factors impacting the texture of these complex colloidal materials is required. This article highlights mathematical and computational approaches being developed to model the properties of polymer and particle gels assembled from plant proteins, polysaccharides, and lipid droplets. In particular, models for describing interpenetrating and phase-separated gel networks are presented, as well as models for describing filled gel networks containing inclusions such as fat droplets, nanofibers, starch granules, or air bubbles. More research is needed to understand the structure–function relationships of these complex materials, which should lead to higher- quality products, but several challenges must be overcome, such as model identification and validation.