Research Projects

Plant-based meat analogues are considered to be healthier and sustainable substitutes of animal meats as they have the potential to meet the dietary requirements, sensory attributes and nutritional value of animal meats, if properly developed. Tamarind seeds which are the by-products of tamarind pulp industry are used in its powder form as thickeners and sizing agents in non-food industries like textiles, paper etc., but have substantial amount of protein (around 18.4 to 26.9%) with good amino acid composition. Similarly, oat okara which are the by-products of oat milk processing are generally used for animal feed. The protein content of oat okara ranges from 24-32% with good amino acid composition. The meat analogue industry in India is growing rapidly due to health consciousness, environmental concerns and preference of people for vegetarian and vegan meat options. These byproducts may be used for extraction of protein for development of meat analogues. As one of the sources, i.e. tamarind seed is legume and the other, i.e. oat okara cereal, the final product will have a balanced amino acid profile. Furthermore, the plant-based meat analogues most of the time are prepared from proteins extracted from pulses and particularly soyabean which make them costly. Also, these meat analogues lack the texture and flavor of animal meat which deters the consumers who were used to animal meat but trying to shift to healthier options. This proposal will try to address these problems by effectively extracting protein from tamarind seed and oat okara using environment friendly techniques like ultrasound, produce animal like flavor and texture through fermentation and high moisture extrusion respectively for development of meat analogue which will mimic animal meat.