Browsing by Author "Turkki, Tuomas"

Constant increase in protein consumption is global trend and can be seen in consumer behavior of Finnish markets. Consumers are interested in replacing meat proteins with plant proteins, and therefore, it is important to develop locally grown-domestic products and invest in local crop research. Due to this, the current study focuses on the domestic vegetable protein (faba bean and oat) texturing by extrusion cooking and on their functionality when included in burgers. The literature section presents an overview of previous studies on extrusion of vegetable proteins and the functionality of textured vegetable proteins (TVP). In the experimental work the research materials were faba bean protein concentrate and oat concentrate with high β-glucan content. The flour concentrates were texturized with high-moisture extrusion, in different mixtures. Mixtures were prepared in the ratio of: 3:1 (FO) and 1:3 (OF) and soy protein concentrate (S) was used as a reference sample. Moisture content and water absorption capability of TVP samples were measured instrumentally. TVPs were later on applied to develop burgers based on a mixture of meat and vegetable sources. Burgers were prepared for instrumental analysis with seven different recipes, where TVP inclusion, water addition and meat content varied. TVP was included in three different percentages: 0, 25 and 50% and water was added in 0, 12.5 and 25%. In relation to TVP inclusion and water addition, the meat content varied between 25-100%. Sample with 100% meat was used as control sample (0-sample) and burgers with S inclusion as reference samples. Samples were analyzed for cooking loss, shear force and texture profile (hardness, fracturability, springi-ness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness and resilience) which was measured with a compression method. Based on the results of the instrumental analysis, five different burger samples were selected and evaluated for sensorial properties (chewiness, biting force, juiciness and pasty mouthfeel). The highest TVP moisture content was in OF and lowest in FO, hence the difference between S and FO was not significant. The highest water absorption was in S and lowest in OF. 25% TVP inclusion in burgers reduced the cooking loss (p<0.05) and 50% inclusion reduced it even more (p<0.05). With 25% TVP inclusion S had higher (p<0.05) cooking loss compared to FO and OF. With 50% TVP inclusion the difference was eliminated. Water addition increased cooking loss significantly (p<0.05) with each type of TVP. The FO and OF inclusion showed to weaken (p<0.05) the textural properties of burgers and reduced (p<0.05) the shear force. The reference sample S was found to maintain the structure similar as from the meat control sample. Water addition, while replacing meat, weakened also the textural properties and shear force in each TVP included sample. Based on the results, the inclusion of FO and OF in burgers reduces the cooking loss compared to the 0-sample and the reference sample S. The texture of burgers became weaker with FO and OF inclusion, however sensory evaluation revealed them to be similar to S included sample. Therefore additional studies focusing on improving the textural properties of these TVPs are needed. Faba bean and oat concentrates with higher protein contents could be needed to obtain a texture closer to meat.