Defatted coconut meal: A novel upcycled ingredient to improve anisotropic structuring and nutritional value of high-moisture meat analogues

Abstract

The growing attention and efforts to create a sustainable food system for the burgeoning human population require a coordinated approach. It includes lowering the carbon footprint of food production, byproduct valorization, and ensuring food and nutritional security.Diverse plant sources are actively explored to replace animal and monocrop-derived proteins in terms of their functionality and nutrition. Defatted coconut meal (DCM), a byproduct from the coconut industry containing significant amount of proteins and dietary fiber, exhibits excellent hydration and interfacial properties. This study critically evaluated the potential of DCM to replace pea protein concentrate (PPC) in the range of 10-50% (w/w) for the production of high moisture meat analogues (HMMA). Substitution up to 20% DCM improved the fibrous alignment, matrix compactness, and muscle-like appearance. This correlated with higher disulfide bond formation, increased browning index, and elevated grafting degree relative to the control sample. However, DCM substitution beyond 30% led to structural fragmentation and reduced browning, indicating impaired network formation.Addition of transglutaminase to the 40-50% DCM formulation effectively restored the crosslinking density and structural integrity of the HMMA. These findings indicate that DCM can effectively substitute PPC in the formulation of HMMA with improved textural and functional attributes. Moreover, DCM being a rich source of dietary fiber, improves the nutritional value of HMMA and qualifies as a food with "rich source of dietary fibre" claim recommended by food regulations. This work highlights the role of DCM as a sustainable ingredient to improve the microstructure and nutritional profile of HMMA.