Production Methodologies of Meat Analogues: A Review

Meat is a non-vegetarian food and is considered as a good source of quality nutrients. Though meat protein provide the required content of good quality protein for the body, they are also associated with higher cholesterol and fat content, which prove to be a leading cause of serious health issues. This became the primary reason for increase in a shift in demands for plant-based protein source foods. The other reason is environmental impact of animal derived products. Meat analogues are plant-based good quality protein source of food that tastes like meat protein, and texture resemble that of meat. These plant-based meat analogues have some amount of anti-nutrients and allergic compounds, but they can be successfully removed by employing certain processing methods and resemble meat in its functionality properties. This approach of mimicking the plantbased foods to resemble meat involves understanding of the biochemical composition and three-dimensional structure of meat, and replicating those qualities using plant-based ingredients. In the current scenario, the best suitable methods of manufacturing meat analogue are by extrusion and structuring techniques. The meat analogues satisfy the need of meat for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. This review attempts to outline the different manufacturing processes of meat analogue using plant-based foods, and to analyse the best suitable method.