Comparison of the Cooking Behaviors of Meat and Plant-Based Meat Analogues: Appearance, Texture, and Fluid Holding Properties

Standardized methods are required to quantify the changes in the quality attributes of plant-based meat analogues when they are cooked and to establish the similarities and differences of their physicochemical attributes to real meat products. We therefore proposed testing protocols to characterize important physicochemical attributes of beef burgers and their plant-based (PB) analogues, including appearance, cooking loss, water holding capacity, and textural profile. The protocols are relatively simple to perform and provide quantitative data for the assessment. Their efficacy was established by measuring and comparing the physicochemical properties of 10 commercial real and PB beef burgers. A principal component analysis model showed appreciable differences in the cooking loss and texture profile properties, indicating that further research is still required to create high-quality PB products.