Vegan Cheese versus Regular Cheese: A Nutritional and Cytotoxic Assessment

Consumers are shifting to a plant-based lifestyle worldwide as more sustainable and healthier alternatives. However, despite the increasing popularity of plant-based vegan products, scientific evidence on their nutritional quality and health effects is still lacking. This study assessed the nutritional and cytotoxic characteristics of the vegan and regular cheese varieties sold in the retail markets in Istanbul, Türkiye in terms of total protein content, amino acid profile, vitamin B, calcium, and in vitro cytotoxicity using Kjeldahl, LC-MS/MS, HLPC, ICP-MS, and in vitro MTS assay, respectively. Our findings showed that the protein content in the regular cheese varieties was 20.7%, while it was 13.3% in vegan tofu only. The ratio between essential and non-essential amino acids in the regular and vegan tofu cheeses was 36.0/64.0 and 38.0/62.0, respectively. Vitamins B6, B9, and B12 were detected in none of the varieties, and calcium levels were found to be 568.1 in the regular cheeses and 17.8 mg/100 g in the vegan cheeses. Besides, in vitro, MTS assay demonstrated that regular cheese Roquefort and vegan varieties significantly decreased the cell viability of the HTC-116 human colon cancer cell line. Overall, the current research highlights the need for a comprehensive evaluation of the vegan cheese types better to understand their nutritional, pre- and clinical toxicity, and bioavailability characteristics in a dose and time-dependent manner using advanced techniques and improving the nutritional quality of vegan products remains a challenge for the food industry.