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Plant proteins are spreading due to growing environmental, health and ethical concerns related to animal proteins. Proteins deriving from cereals, oilseeds, and pulses are witnessing a sharp growth showing a wide spectrum of applications from meat and fish analogues to infant formulations. Bakery products are one of the biggest markets of alternative protein applications for functional and nutritional motives. Fortifying bakery products with proteins can secure a better amino-acids profile and a higher protein intake. Conventional plant proteins (i.e., wheat and soy) dominate the bakery industry, but emerging sources (i.e., pea, chickpea, and faba) are also gaining traction. Each protein brings specific functional properties and nutritional value. Therefore, this chapter gives an overview of the main features of plant proteins and discusses their impact on the quality of bakery products., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this work, the aim is to study the effectiveness of germination on wheat protein degradation, with a specific focus on proteins involved in adverse reactions to wheat. The effects of 8 days of germination at 25 °C on the chemical composition and the protein profile were determined. Germination did not have a significant effect on starch, protein, lipid, and ash contents. General protein profile, as indicated by SDS-PAGE analysis, revealed that germination induced a relevant degradation in protein fraction. After in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, gluten peptides involved in celiac disease (CD) were identified and quantified using UPLC/ESI-MS technique. Also, CM3 protein, involved in baker's asthma and intestinal inflammation, was quantified by measuring a marker peptide. Statistical analysis underlined that germination and genotype had significant impact on the amount of both components. Regarding gluten peptides related to CD, germination enabled an average reduction of 47% in peptides eliciting adaptive immune response and 46% in peptides eliciting innate immune response. CM3 protein showed also a high average reduction (56%). Thus, this study suggests that germination might be a good bioalternative to provide a low "impact" raw ingredient for special wheat-based foodstuffs.

Baker's asthma is a serious airway disease triggered by wheat protein CM3 α-amylase/trypsin inhibitor. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of genotype and crop year on allergen CM3 α-amylase/trypsin inhibitor associated with baker's asthma. A historical series of Tunisian durum wheat (100 accessions), derived from three crop years, was used to compare the amount of CM3 from landraces to advanced cultivars. CM3 protein quantification was assessed after an enzymatic cleavage of the soluble protein extracts on a UPLC/ESI-MS system, using a marker peptide for its quantification. Combined data analysis of variance revealed an important effect of genotype, crop year, and their interaction. The CM3 allergenic proteins were found to significantly vary among studied genotypes, as confirmed by genetic variability, coefficient of variance, heritability, and genetic advance.

The aim of this study was to compare immunogenic and toxic gluten peptides related to celiac disease (CD). 100 accessions of genotypes selected during the 20th century in Tunisia were in vitro digested and then analyzed by UPLC/ESI-MS technique using an isotopically labeled internal standard. The first MANOVA confirmed a high variability in the content of immunogenic and toxic peptides reflecting high genetic diversity in the germplasm released during the past century in Tunisia, consistently with PCA and clustering analysis results. Our finding showed also important variability in CD epitopes due to growing season's climate scenarios. Moreover, the second MANOVA revealed significant differences between abandoned and modern cultivars' CD-related peptide amounts. Although we could not conclude that there was an augment of allergens in newly selected durum wheat lines compared to abandoned ones, we demonstrated that modern genotype peptides were less sensitive to climate variation, which is a useful indicator for wheat breeders.

Summary: Positioned midway between traditional meat and plant‐based options, hybrid alternatives cater to a broader consumer category due to the intersection of flavours, textures and ethical considerations. This review aims to provide a current landscape and forthcoming challenges of hybrid options, exploring their formulation, processing, distinctive features, consumer acceptance and sustainability aspects. Even though there is no standard definition of the 'meathybrid concept', scientists and industrials explored different ingredients including purified proteins or whole vegetables/grains/seeds to formulate palatable hybrid products maintaining comparable sensory features to meat. Consumers' attraction to hybrid meat products is mostly related to taste, sustainability and nutritional aspects. Future challenges for hybrid options may include optimising production scalability, ensuring consistent quality and taste and effectively communicating the benefits of hybrid products to diverse consumer segments. Additionally, ongoing research and development efforts will be crucial in enhancing hybrid alternatives' sensory attributes, nutritional profiles and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nutrient composition of plant-based burgers is a key factor when making their purchase/consumption decision to maintain a balanced diet. For this reason, ingredient list and nutritional information of burgers launched in the global market were retrieved from their labels. Products were classified based on the technology development, market position and region of the manufacturer. From the ingredient analysis, we observed a high heterogeneity in the ingredients used, a predominance of soy and wheat as main sources of proteins, and the increasing use of new protein sources (e.g. peas, other types of beans and pseudo-cereals). Oil was the most cited ingredient followed by salt. Nutritional composition varied mainly depending on the region with no clear pattern among countries. To less extent, technology development resulted in traditional products with lower amounts of protein and higher amounts of carbohydrates. Vegan and vegetarian products showed limited differences due to the high intra-heterogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzymes have been used in the food processing industry for many years. However, the use of native enzymes is not conducive to high activity, efficiency, range of substrates, and adaptability to harsh food processing conditions. The advent of enzyme engineering approaches such as rational design, directed evolution, and semi-rational design provided much-needed impetus for tailor-made enzymes with improved or novel catalytic properties. Production of designer enzymes became further refined with the emergence of synthetic biology and gene editing techniques and a plethora of other tools such as artificial intelligence, and computational and bioinformatics analyses which have paved the way for what is referred to as precision fermentation for the production of these designer enzymes more efficiently. With all the technologies available, the bottleneck is now in the scale-up production of these enzymes. There is generally a lack of accessibility thereof of large-scale capabilities and know-how. This review is aimed at highlighting these various enzyme-engineering strategies and the associated scale-up challenges, including safety concerns surrounding genetically modified microorganisms and the use of cell-free systems to circumvent this issue. The use of solid-state fermentation (SSF) is also addressed as a potentially low-cost production system, amenable to customization and employing inexpensive feedstocks as substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fermentation was traditionally used all over the world, having the preservation of plant and animal foods as a primary role. Owing to the rise of dairy and meat alternatives, fermentation is booming as an effective technology to improve the sensory, nutritional, and functional profiles of the new generation of plant-based products. This article intends to review the market landscape of fermented plant-based products with a focus on dairy and meat alternatives. Fermentation contributes to improving the organoleptic properties and nutritional profile of dairy and meat alternatives. Precision fermentation provides more opportunities for plant-based meat and dairy manufacturers to deliver a meat/dairy-like experience. Seizing the opportunities that the progress of digitalization is offering would boost the production of high-value ingredients such as enzymes, fats, proteins, and vitamins. Innovative technologies such as 3D printing could be an effective post-processing solution following fermentation in order to mimic the structure and texture of conventional products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer interest in protein rich diets is increasing, with more attention being paid to the protein source. Despite the occurrence of animal proteins in the human diet, non-animal proteins are gaining popularity around the world due to their health benefits, environmental sustainability, and ethical merit. These sources of protein qualify for vegan, vegetarian, and flexitarian diets. Non-animal proteins are versatile, derived mainly from cereals, vegetables, pulses, algae (seaweed and microalgae), fungi, and bacteria. This review's intent is to analyze the current and future direction of research and innovation in non-animal proteins, and to elucidate the extent (limitations and opportunities) of their applications in food and beverage industries. Prior knowledge provided relevant information on protein features (processing, structure, and techno-functionality) with particular focus on those derived from soy and wheat. In the current food landscape, beyond conventionally used plant sources, other plant proteins are gaining traction as alternative ingredients to formulate animal-free foodstuffs (e.g., meat alternatives, beverages, baked products, snack foods, and others). Microbial proteins derived from fungi and algae are also food ingredients of interest due to their high protein quantity and quality, however there is no commercial food application for bacterial protein yet. In the future, key points to consider are the importance of strain/variety selection, advances in extraction technologies, toxicity assessment, and how this source can be used to create food products for personalized nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegan eggs are designed with the aim to provide a healthier and more sustainable alternative to regular eggs. The major drivers of this industry are the increasing prevalence of egg allergies, awareness towards environmental sustainability, and the shift to vegan diets. This study intends to discuss, for the first time, the vegan egg market, including their formulation, nutritional aspects, and some applications (i.e., mayonnaise and bakery products). Recreating the complete functionality of eggs using plant-based ingredients is very challenging due to the complexity of eggs. Current, but scarce, research in this field is focused on making mixtures of plant-based ingredients to fit specific food formulations. Nutritionally, providing vegan eggs with similar or higher nutritional value to that of eggs can be of relevance to attract health-conscious consumers. Claims such as clean labels, natural, vegan, animal-free, gluten-free, and/or cholesterol-free can further boost the position of vegan eggs in the market in the coming year. At present, this market is still in its infancy stages, and clear regulations of labeling, safety, and risk assessment are deemed mandatory to organize the sector, and protect consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]