Influence of elevated protein content in textured vegetable protein on the textural characteristics and sensory attributes of plant-based meat alternatives

• TVP with high protein content (75% dry basis) enhance low hardness in texture of plant-based meat analog. • TVP with high carbohydrate content (32% dry basis) showed superior texture (hardness, chewiness, gumminess, springiness) in the final plant-based meat analog. This study investigated the quality of soy protein-based textured vegetable protein (TVP) with varying protein and carbohydrate content in the formation of plant-based meat (PBM). The commercial TVP extrudate samples were TVP-A and B, which were from different commercial TVPs, while TVP-T was produced from the extrusion process in the laboratory. The results revealed that all TVP extrudates exhibited a high degree of porosity and a coarse surface texture. The protein content of the TVP-T sample was significantly higher at 75.0% dry basis ( p<0.05 ), compared to the TVP-A and B samples, which had protein contents of approximately 50% on a dry basis. The TVP-T (7.4% dry basis) contained the lowest amount of carbohydrates compared to the TVP-A (32.0% dry basis) and TVP-B (32.3% dry basis). These extrudates functioned as the main ingredient in the formation of a PBM. The microstructure of PBM derived from TVP-A and B exhibited a denser binding of carbohydrates and proteins, with a more uniform distribution compared to that of TVP-T. TVP-A demonstrated superior hardness, gumminess, chewiness, and springiness relative to TVP-B and T. The PBM derived from TVP-A achieved the highest overall liking score of 4.95 out of 7. This was closely followed by the products from TVP-B and TVP-T, which received scores of 4.91 and 4.78 out of 7, respectively. This research indicates that high-protein-content TVP could function as an alternative ingredient for creating more nutritious PBM with enhanced texture and sensory attributes.