Plant-based meat analogs have been shown to cause less harm for both human health and the environment compared to real meat, especially processed meat. However, the intense pressure to enhance the sensory qualities of plant-based meat alternatives has caused their nutritional and safety aspects to be overlooked. This paper reviews our current understanding of the nutrition and safety behind plant-based meat alternatives, proposing fermentation as a potential way of overcoming limitations in these aspects. Plant protein blends, fortification, and preservatives have been the main methods for enhancing the nutritional content and stability of plant-based meat alternatives, but concerns that include safety, nutrient deficiencies, low digestibility, high allergenicity, and high costs have been raised in their use. Fermentation with microorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Neurospora intermedia, and Rhizopus oryzae improves digestibility and reduces allergenicity and antinutritive factors more effectively. At the same time, microbial metabolites can boost the final product’s safety, nutrition, and sensory quality, although some concerns regarding their toxicity remain. Designing a single starter culture or microbial consortium for plant-based meat alternatives can be a novel solution for advancing the health benefits of the final product while still fulfilling the demands of an expanding and sustainable economy.

High moisture extrusion is a widely used technology for producing fibrous meat analogues in an efficient and scalable manner. Extrusion of soy, wheat gluten, and pea is well-documented and related products are already available in the market. There has been growing interest to diversify the protein sources used for meat analogues due to concerns over food waste, monocropping and allergenicity. Optimizing the extrusion process for plant proteins (e.g., hemp, mung bean, fava bean) tends to be time consuming and relies on the operators' intuition and experience to control the process well. Simulating the extrusion process has been challenging so far due to the diverse inputs and configurations involved during extrusion. This review details the mechanism for fibrous structure formation and provides an overview of the extrusion parameters used for texturizing a broad range of plant protein sources. Referring to these data reduces the resources needed for optimizing the extrusion process for novel proteins and may be useful for future extrusion modeling efforts. The review also highlights potential challenges and opportunities for extruding plant proteins, which may help to accelerate the development and commercialization of related products.

Mimicking the texture and savoury flavour of meat remains challenging, leading to lower consumer adoption of plant-based meat analogues (PBMAs). This study explored the use of Baker’s yeast (BY) to improve the sensory attributes of high moisture extrudates made from soy protein isolate (SPI), using soy protein concentrate (SPC) extrudates as a benchmark. Incorporating 25 and 50% BY into SPI produced darker, softer extrudates with more anisotropic layers and fibres, creating a more meat-like texture compared to SPI and SPC extrudates. Sensory/GC-MS/nutritional analyses showed that BY significantly enhanced the extrudates’ umami and saltiness perception by increasing the content of pyrazines and other heterocyclic volatile compounds, despite the 50% BY formulation containing less sodium than SPC and SPI extrudates. These sensory attributes remained stable throughout about one year of simulated frozen storage, showing BY’s potential as a sustainable and cost-effective way for improving the sensory quality of next generation PBMAs.