Comparative analysis of appearance, digestive behaviour, and nutritional quality of grilled alternative meat analogues and beef patty.

Authors

Ruixian Han, Maryam Binti Zulkifli, Oscar Abel Sánchez Velázquez, Yan Wang, Alexander Lim, María Lilibeth Manzanilla Valdez, Martin Mondor, Evi Paximada, Alan Javier Hernández-Álvarez

Published in

Food chemistry. Volume 524. Pages 150279. Jul 02, 2026. Epub Jul 02, 2026.

Abstract

A wide range of commercial meat analogues have emerged as alternatives to animal protein. This study evaluated six commercial alternative meat analogues (AMAs) against a conventional beef patty (BP), focusing on cooking behaviour, appearance, texture, digestion, and protein quality. AMAs showed distinct structural differences from BP, directly resulting in variations in cooking loss, hardness, and chewiness. Following simulated gastrointestinal digestion, AMAs released more free amino acids, whereas BP demonstrated higher overall protein digestibility. Protein quality assessment revealed that four AMAs (66.1-98.5) had higher in vitro protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (IVPDCAAS) than BP (54.8), while only one (AMA6, 72.3) showed higher in vitro digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) (BP, 64.2). This discrepancy was attributed to the complete digestibility of limiting amino acids (Cys + Met) in BP, highlighting the importance of assessing individual amino acid digestibility. Overall, AMAs show promise but require further improvement in texture and post-cooking nutritional quality.

PMID:
42407134
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Jul 2026.

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