Gräfenhahn Maria, Beyrer Michael
Institute of Life Technologies, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland Valais-Wallis (HES-SO VS), 1950 Sion, Switzerland.
Foods. 2024 May 15;13(10):1541. doi: 10.3390/foods13101541.
Research regarding meat analogues is mostly based on formulation and process development. Information concerning their safety, shelf life, and long-term nutritional and health effects is limited. This article reviews the existing literature and analyzes potential hazards introduced or modified throughout the processing chain of plant-based meat analogues via extrusion processing, encompassing nutritional, microbiological, chemical, and allergen aspects. It was found that the nutritional value of plant-based raw materials and proteins extracted thereof increases along the processing chain. However, the nutritional value of plant-based meat analogues is lower than that of e.g., animal-based products. Consequently, higher quantities of these products might be needed to achieve a nutritional profile similar to e.g., meat. This could lead to an increased ingestion of undigestible proteins and dietary fiber. Although dietary fibers are known to have many positive health benefits, they present a hazard since their consumption at high concentrations might lead to gastrointestinal reactions. Even though there is plenty of ongoing research on this topic, it is still not clear how the sole absorption of metabolites derived from plant-based products compared with animal-based products ultimately affects human health. Allergens were identified as a hazard since plant-based proteins can induce an allergic reaction, are known to have cross-reactivities with other allergens and cannot be eliminated during the processing of meat analogues. Microbiological hazards, especially the occurrence of spore- and non-spore-forming bacteria, do not represent a particular case if requirements and regulations are met. Lastly, it was concluded that there are still many unknown variables and open questions regarding potential hazards possibly present in meat analogues, including processing-related compounds such as n-nitrosamines, acrylamide, and heterocyclic aromatic amino acids.
关于肉类替代品的研究大多基于配方和工艺开发。有关其安全性、保质期以及长期营养和健康影响的信息有限。本文综述了现有文献，并分析了通过挤压加工在植物性肉类替代品的整个加工链中引入或改变的潜在危害，涵盖营养、微生物、化学和过敏原等方面。研究发现，植物性原材料及其提取的蛋白质的营养价值在加工链中会增加。然而，植物性肉类替代品的营养价值低于例如动物性产品。因此，可能需要摄入更多此类产品才能获得与例如肉类相似的营养状况。这可能导致不可消化蛋白质和膳食纤维的摄入量增加。尽管膳食纤维已知有许多对健康有益的作用，但它们也存在危害，因为高浓度食用可能会导致胃肠道反应。尽管目前对此主题有大量正在进行的研究，但与动物性产品相比，仅吸收植物性产品衍生的代谢物最终如何影响人类健康仍不清楚。过敏原被确定为一种危害，因为植物性蛋白质可引发过敏反应，已知与其他过敏原存在交叉反应，并且在肉类替代品加工过程中无法消除。如果符合要求和规定，微生物危害，尤其是产芽孢和不产芽孢细菌的出现并不构成特殊情况。最后得出的结论是，关于肉类替代品中可能存在的潜在危害，包括与加工相关的化合物如N-亚硝胺、丙烯酰胺和杂环芳香族氨基酸，仍有许多未知变量和未解决的问题。
