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.

For the valorization of oilseed press cakes into food products, extrusion can be used. A common way of applying the protein- and fiber-rich press cakes in directly expanded products is the combination thereof with starch, since starch gives a favourable texture, which correlates directly to expansion. To control product properties like expansion of protein and fiber-rich extruded products, the underlying physicochemical changes of proteins, fibers and starch due to thermomechanical input need to be comprehensively described. In this study, rapeseed press cake (RPC) was extruded and treated under defined thermomechanical conditions in a closed-cavity rheometer, pure and in combination with four starches. The impact of starch type (potato PS, waxy potato WPS, maize MS, high-amylose maize HAMS) and temperature (20/25, 80, 100, 120, 140 °C) on protein solubility, starch gelatinization (D_gel), starch hydrolysis (S_H) and fiber solubility of the blends was evaluated. The extrusion process conditions were significantly affected by the starch type. In the extruded blends, the starch type had a significant impact on the protein solubility which decreased with increasing barrel temperature. Increasing barrel temperatures significantly increased the amount of soluble fiber fractions in the blends. At defined thermomechanical conditions, the starch type showed no significant impact on the protein solubility of the blends. Therefore, the observed effects of starch type on the protein solubility of extruded blends could be attributed to the indistinct process conditions due to differences in the rheological properties of the starches rather than to molecular interactions of the starches with the rapeseed proteins in the blends.

Rapeseed press cake (RPC), an oil pressing side product rich in protein and fiber, can be combined with starch and valorized into directly expanded products using extrusion technology. The mechanism of starch expansion has been studied in detail, but the impact of RPC on expansion behavior is poorly understood. However, it can be linked to rheological and physicochemical properties and is a key product quality parameter. Blends with different amounts of RPC (0, 10, 40 g/100 g) were extruded at different barrel temperatures (100, 120, 140 °C) and moisture contents (24 or 29 g/100 g). The initial, intermediate and final sectional, longitudinal and volumetric expansion indices (SEI, LEI, VEI) were monitored directly, 10 s and 24 h after die exit to measure extrudate growth and shrinkage. The viscous and elastic properties of the extruded blends were investigated in a closed cavity rheometer. Starch and blends with 10 g/100 g RPC achieved a high initial SEI followed by significant short-term shrinkage. Blends containing 40 g/100 g RPC did not show any initial expansion. With increasing RPC content, the intermediate SEI decreased, but all samples reached a similar final SEI due to time-dependent swelling of the RPC blends. With increasing RPC content, the elasticity of the starch-based extruded samples significantly increased. Our study shows that comprehensive control and understanding of expansion mechanisms can be achieved only by investigating all stages of extrudate growth and shrinkage. We also found that the closed cavity rheometer is a powerful tool to correlate the rheological properties and expansion mechanisms of biopolymers.