New research suggests that proteins in plant-based meat substitutes may not be as accessible to human cells as proteins in real meat.
Protein-rich plants such as soybeans are commonly used around the world, but researchers, including researchers at Ohio State University in the United States, say it’s unclear how much nutrients get into human cells. say.
In a study published Wednesday Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Scientists evaluated whether laboratory-grown human cells absorb protein-building block peptides from the same amount of meat substitutes as chicken.
Researchers say the findings could lead to new ingredients that could increase nutrient uptake from plant-based meat products.
To mimic the look and texture of real meat, they say, plant-based alternatives are usually made by dehydrating the plant into powder and mixing it with seasonings.
These mixtures are then usually heated, moistened and extruded to produce plant-based meat. fat.
However, researchers say that alternative proteins may not be broken down into peptides like proteins from meat.
In a new study, they analyzed the amount of peptide absorbed from alternative model meat by human cells and compared this to the amount of cells absorbed from chicken breast (CB).
For research, scientists have created a model meat substitute (MA) made from soy and wheat gluten during the extrusion process.
They say there were long pieces of fiber in the material, like chicken, when cut open.
Researchers then cooked alternatives and chicken pieces and decomposed them using the enzymes that humans use to digest food.
They found that peptides from meat substitutes and their amino acid constituents were less water-soluble than those from chicken and were “not absorbed by human cells.”
“Amino acid composition has shown that MA permeates have fewer essential and non-essential amino acids than CB permeates,” scientists write in a study.
They say that future research can help identify ingredients that can help promote peptide uptake in plant-based meat substitutes.
