Nutritional and Health Benefits of Plant Protein Alternatives

Since time immemorial, consumption of good quality food has been considered essential for human nutrition. Animal meat and dairy products are important foods for humans. These contain all the nutrients required by the body.

- Veena.B

Plant meat is a food product made from plant-based ingredients. It is consumed as a meat substitute. It is variously known as meat substitute, meat substitute, mock meat, fake meat and plant-based meat. Fake (plant-based) meat is a delicious alternative for those who avoid eating animal-based meat for ethical and health reasons.

Sources of plant proteins

Plant-based proteins are alternatives to the more common animal-based proteins. Cereals like Wheat, Rice and Oats, Pulses like Soybean, Chickpea, Uddan etc. and Oilseeds like Soya Bean, Groundnut, Flax, Sesame, Safflower etc. Seed proteins such as almonds, cashews and walnuts are important sources. Defated (defatted) buckwheat flour, texturized vegetable protein (TVP) are soy-based meat substitutes. In recent years' fungal proteins, algal proteins and insect proteins have attracted considerable attention.

The late 19th century and the third half of the 20th century saw a surge of interest in alternative meats. Since after the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in people's interest towards vegetarianism and the curiosity to find healthier alternatives to animal meat.

Those who areethically concerned about animal welfare and animal husbandry are motivated to reduce the consumption of animal protein or avoid such foods. This has increased the demand in the food industry sector to search for alternative meat products. In recent times, due to the increased awareness among consumers about the health promoting effects of bioactive compounds and environmental protection reasons, more attention is being paid to plant-based foods to avoid the negative effects of consuming animal proteins. The forms of alternate protein meat and their nutritional values are listed in Table-1.

Table 1. Alternate plant protein sources and their nutritional value