Utilizing pulse-protein and canola oil-based emulsions in healthy meat products

Term: 5 years, ending July 2024
Status: Completed
Researcher(s): Supratim Ghosh, Phyllis Shand, University of Saskatchewan; Mehmet Tulbek, AGT Foods and Ingredients, Saskatoon, SK
SaskCanola Investment: $100,625
Total Project Cost: $352,625
Funding Partners: Agriculture Development Fund

Grower Benefits

• Pulse proteins, such as faba proteins, can be suitably modified using simple physical methods to improve their emulsifying ability.

• Modified pulse proteins can be used to develop highly stable elastic canola oil-in-water emulsion gel to replace saturated hard animal fat in processed meat and hybrid meat products, such as bologna, burgers and sausages.

• The nutritional profile of the hybrid meat products was significantly improved by the incorporation of canola oil, leading to lower saturated fats and increased unsaturated fats.

• These highly stable pulse protein-based emulsion gels will help create a new market and expand the existing use of canola and pulse protein as high quality, nutritious, economical and sustainable sources of protein for human consumption.

Project Summary

Although several researchers have tried to use oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions as a medium to replace animal fat in processed meat products, to date there is no successful product in the market. In this project, researchers evaluated the use of pulse proteins to stabilize canola O/W emulsion gels to develop a sustainable meat formulation with desired quality and sensory attributes. The overall goal of the project was to determine if the use of modified pulse protein-based canola O/W emulsion stable gel could be a better replacement for animal fat in meat products such as burgers and bologna.

The project objectives included the development of plant-based emulsion gels using faba proteins and preparation of meat products by replacing animal fat with pulse protein-based canola oil emulsion. Additional studies were completed on the meat products including characterization of stability, shelf-life, microstructure, texture and sensory properties.

The project included pilot-scale production of the faba protein-based emulsion gels for production of hybrid bologna, burgers and sausage. A feasibility study for scale-up operations and consumer sensory evaluations were also completed.

In the experiments, faba bean protein was modified using hydrothermal and high-pressure homogenization to improve its emulsification behaviour. This modified protein was used to develop highly stable nanoemulsion droplets and further treated with salt and heat to convert the viscous emulsion into an elastic gel. In the pilot plant, researchers scaled up the production of the faba protein-based emulsion gel to produce hybrid pork bologna, hybrid beef burgers and hybrid pork sausage. The project compared full-fat (20%) conventional products with low-fat (10%) hybrid products in the study.

The project included two consumer sensory evaluations with at least 60 panelists testing the hybrid bologna and burger products. The results of the sensory evaluation showed higher liking by the consumers for the hybrid burgers than the hybrid bologna. The biggest differences when comparing conventional and hybrid bologna were in terms of the appearance and colour, while other attributes, such as juiciness, mouthfeel and chewiness were rated lower for the hybrid bologna. However, the nutritional profile of the hybrid meat was significantly improved due to the incorporation of canola oil leading to a lowering of saturated fat and increase in the unsaturated fats. Hybrid sausages are also expected to be highly successful.

Overall, the results of the project established that pulse proteins, such as faba proteins, can be suitably modified using simple physical methods, to improve their emulsifying ability. Secondly, highly stable elastic canola O/W emulsion gel can be developed using the modified pulse proteins to replace animal fat in meat products, such as bologna, burgers, and sausages, to create hybrid products, containing both plant and animal ingredients. The feasilibility analysis showed that as expected, the cost per kg of hybrid meat products would be somewhat higher than conventional products. However these products are expected to be profitable since consumers would be willing to pay extra to buy these products for the additional health benefits, provided they taste better or similar to the conventional products.

Additional research to improve and modulate the emulsion gels for specific finished product applications and sensory attributes is the next step. This could potentially include replacement of plant-based saturated fats, such as coconut and palm oil, in hybrid and veggie-burgers. Another promising application could be replacement of saturated fat-based shortening in baking applications with pulse protein stabilized canola O/W emulsion gels.

Referred Journal Articles:

Coker, O. J., Shand, P. J., & Ghosh, S. (2024). The effect of heat treatment and high-pressure homogenization on the dispersibility and interfacial behavior of faba bean protein isolate and concentrate. Sustainable Food Proteins, 2(3), 159-179. https://doi.org/10.1002/sfp2.1035