Quality characteristics and storage stability of restructured chicken meat blocks extended with different combinations of vegetative extenders

Towards More Sustainable Meat Products: Extenders as a Way of Reducing Meat Content

The low efficiency of animal protein (meat products) production is one of the main concerns for sustainable food production. However, meat provides high-quality protein among other compounds such as minerals or vitamins. The use of meat extenders, non-meat substances with high protein content, to partially replace meat, offers interesting opportunities towards the reformulation of healthier and more sustainable meat products. The objective of this review is to give a general point of view on what type of compounds are used as meat extenders and how they affect the physicochemical and sensory properties of reformulated products. Plant-based ingredients (pulses, cereals, tubers and fruits) have been widely used to replace up to 50% of meat. Mushrooms allow for higher proportions of meat substitution, with adequate results in reduced-sodium reformulated products. Insects and by-products from the food industry are novel approaches that present an opportunity to develop more sustainable meat products. In general, the use of meat extenders improves the yield of the products, with slight sensory modifications. These multiple possibilities make meat extenders' use the most viable and interesting approach towards the production of healthier meat products with less environmental impact.

Physicochemical and sensorial characteristics of beef burgers with added tannin and tannin-free whole sorghum flours as isolated soy protein replacer

The physicochemical and sensorial characterization of beef burgers with added sorghum flours as replacer for the isolated soy protein (ISP) usually used in the conventional formulations was performed. Three formulations were prepared: one conventional (CN) with 3% ISP and two with 3% tannin (BRS 305) and tannin-free (BR 501) whole sorghum flour (WSF) of BRS 305 and BR 501 genotypes. There was no difference among the formulations for most of the physicochemical characteristics. The moisture retention was higher in BRS 305 (P < .05). The added WSF influenced the color of the raw beef burger; and the proximate composition and the antioxidant characteristics of the raw and cooked formulations (P < .05). The purchase intention and flavor, texture and overall acceptability scores were higher for the sorghum products than CN (P < .05). Therefore, the replacing of ISP by WSF in beef burger, especially by the BRS 305 genotype, might be a technologically, nutritionally and sensorially viable option.