With the increasing demand for sustainable foods among consumers, plant-based meat, as an alternative to traditional meat, has received increasing attention. High-moisture extrusion is one of the crucial steps in the preparation of plant-based meat, which utilizes the synergistic effects of high temperature, high pressure, and high shear to mimic the fibrous structure and texture of meat. However, this process leads to complex physical and chemical changes in proteins and auxiliary materials, resulting in significant differences between the product and traditional meat in terms of color, texture, and flavor. Therefore, the addition of exogenous additives has become a key research area for improving product quality. This paper reviews the effects of different additives (such as proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, crosslinking agents, and other additives) on the structure and quality of plant-based meat during high-moisture extrusion, explores the mechanisms of protein-protein, lipid-protein, polysaccharide-protein, and crosslinking agent-protein interactions, and analyzes their enhancing effects on the texture, flavor, and nutritional value of plant-based meat. This paper aims to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for further research and development of plant-based meat products.

Textured fibril soy protein (TFSP) is one of the most important high-density plant proteins with a fiber structure similar to meat using screw extrusion. It is often used to process simulated meat products after rehydration treatment. In this study, the rehydration dynamics model was constructed to predict the rehydration process using different ultrasonic power and NaHCO₃ concentration at 40℃. A systematic investigation was implemented to explore the effects of different rehydration modes on the physical and chemical properties, as well as the microstructure of TFSP. The rehydration quality of TFSP was evaluated to compare with the control group, Results showed that the final moisture content increased by 27.14 %, when TFSP rehydrates to 120 min, whereas, the rehydration time was shortened by 20 min in the 500 W ultrasound group, compared with the pure water group. The final moisture content also increased by 23.41 % in the 2.000 % NaHCO₃ group, without any significant change in the rehydration time. A Weibull model was better fitted for the TFSP rehydration in the control (R²≥0.993 3), ultrasound (R²≥0.990 5), and NaHCO₃ group (R²≥0.986 7). Both ultrasound and NaHCO₃ treatments slightly reduced the color of the re-hydrated TFSP, whereas, there was a great increase in the water holding capacity and immobilized water content. There was some variation in the hardness, chewiness, and degree of texturization of re-hydrated TFSP, without the outstanding difference in the springiness. The 400 W ultrasound group was the highest degree of texturization, 41.80 % higher than the control. Meanwhile, the 0.250 % NaHCO₃ group reached the smallest hardness, which was 54.17% smaller than the control. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that the microstructure of rehydrated TFSP was changed by the ultrasound and NaHCO₃. Specifically, the pore size was enhanced to accelerate the water transport rate and the water holding capacity. Therefore, the ultrasound should be chosen to assist the TFSP rehydration, if the maximum degree of texturization was taken as the main evaluation index. By contrast, the NaHCO₃-assisted rehydration effect should be selected, if the minimum hardness was taken as the main evaluation index. This finding can provide a theoretical basis and reference to develop TFSP products with excellent qualities under different rehydration modes.

Plant proteins, as natural amphiphilic macromolecules, are mainly derived from plants such as soybean and pea. Due to their excellent functional properties such as emulsification, foaming and gelling, they have significant potential and research value in various fields such as the food industry, biomedicine, and material science. However, emulsions formed solely from proteins are prone to instability due to the influence of various environmental factors. Existing studies have shown that the introduction of polysaccharides can effectively improve the interfacial structure and performance of plant protein-stabilized emulsions. As a common natural polysaccharide, cellulose has attracted widespread attention due to its good biocompatibility, biodegradability and low cost. Based on covalent and non-covalent interactions, plant protein-cellulose stabilized emulsions exhibit stable network structures and excellent properties. To provide a better understanding of recent progress in plant protein-cellulose stabilized emulsions, this paper reviews the raw materials, preparation methods and emulsion properties, focusing on the factors influencing the structures and properties of plant protein-cellulose stabilized emulsions. Meanwhile, it summarizes the current status the application of these emulsions, aiming to provide insights for the improvement and utilization of protein-cellulose stabilized emulsions.

In this study, we evaluated the effect of synergetic induction of transglutaminase (TGase) and magnesium chloride (MgCl₂) on the gel forming properties of cold-pressed soybean flour. The results showed that the dietary fiber content of tofu prepared from cold-pressed soybean flour using MgCl₂ or in combination with TGase as a coagulant increased by three times, and the fat content was only one third compared to tofu prepared from tofu prepared from regular soybean flour using MgCl₂ as a coagulant (control). Addition of TGase could obviously improve the internal water content of cold-pressed soybean flour gels, making the gel structure more uniform gel, and resulted in higher storage modulus G′ (10498 Pa), indicating a stronger gel network structure, Consequently, the highest water-holding capacity (51.01%), product yield (244%) and random coil percentage (21.45%) were obtained. The disulfide bond content of tofu coagulated with TGase + MgCl₂ (5.46 μmol/g) was close to that of the control sample (7.02 μmol/g). The scanning electron microscopic (SEM) results showed that the synergistic effect TGase and MgCl₂ gave a more compact gel network structure, which was close to that in the control sample. Therefore, the synergetic effect of TGase and MgCl₂ could improve the gelling properties of cold-pressed soybean meal proteins. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for diversified development of cold-pressed soybean powder.

Soymilk has become an important form of human consumption of soybean because of its nutritional richness and that the fact it contains many functional factors. Heat processing plays a crucial role in the processing of soymilk. Different degrees of heat treatment will cause different degrees of denaturation of soybean proteins in soymilk, thereby affecting the quality and properties of soymilk products. This paper reviews recent studies on the effects of different heat treatment conditions during soymilk processing on the structure, composition and gel properties of soybean proteins, as well as the effects of the interaction of calcium, magnesium, phytate and fat with soybean proteins on the dissociation-association behavior of a soymilk system. Additionally, an outlook on the future of soymilk and soymilk products as well as other related fields is presented. We expect that this review will provide a reference for the development of the soymilk processing industry in China.

With the development of extrusion technology, the extrusion processing technology for the production of vegetarian meat products with good textured structure from soybean proteins and the formation mechanism of textured protein structure have attracted more and more attention from scholars. Recent studies have shown that microstructure changes of soybean proteins play a crucial role in the macrostructure of plant-based meat products. In this paper, the conformational change of soybean proteins during extrusion and its effect on the structure of textured soybean proteins are reviewed, and the molecular composition of soybean proteins and the effect of extrusion on the conformation and function of soybean proteins are summarized as well as the mechanism of the texturization of soybean proteins by extrusion. Additionally, this review presents an overview of the methods used for conformational characterization of extruded soy proteins.

Plant-based meat products are new bionic foods for which industrial standards were formulated recently, and have tended to replace meat products in taste and flavor. The most common plant-based meat product is the one produced from soybean protein by the use of processing technologies such as extrusion, which has a meaty mouthfeel and flavor. Mouthfeel and flavor are important factors determining whether meat analogs can be accepted by consumers, and flavor is one of the first signals received by consumers. The market prospect of meat analogs is determined by whether the flavor is accepted by consumers. This paper introduces the flavor sources of soybean protein-based meat analogs, summarizes the effects of different processing factors on the flavor substances of soybean protein-based meat analogs, and discusses the retention mechanism of the flavor substances of soybean protein-based meat analogs, which will provide a basis for the research and development of the flavor of soybean protein-based meat analogs.

Protein gels are three-dimensional protein networks with high moisture content, which have been widely applied in several fields such as food, medicinal, and industrial sectors. Gel texture can be improved by adding dietary fiber due to its good physical, chemical and physiological properties, which has become the focus of attention of researchers. In order to better understand recent progress in research on dietary fiber-protein composite gels, this paper focuses on the classification, structure and functional characteristics of dietary fiber, and summarizes the current state of knowledge on the effect and mechanism of dietary fiber on the characteristics of protein gels. Moreover, it gives an overview of the application of fiber-protein gels in the fields of food and medicine and predicts future development directions. This paper will provide a basis for the preparation and application of fiber-protein gels.

Konjac glucomannan is a water-soluble, nonionic high-molecular-mass polysaccharide with good water-holding, film-forming, gelation, and biocompatibility properties. Among the many studies on konjac glucomannan-based composite materials, the studies of physically modified composite films have attracted much attention and shown promising applications in the field of new food packaging materials. In this review, the molecular structure and properties of konjac glucomannan are outlined, with a special focus on the types, morphological and structural characteristics, intermolecular interactions of the blending components, formation mechanism and functional properties of konjac glucomannan-based physically modified composite films and recent progress in their application.

Glycinin and β-conglycinin are the major protein components of soybean, which are different in their structure. The preparation process can cause varying degrees of changes in the structures of glycinin and β-conglycinin. In this paper, a brief overview of the structures of various soybean protein components is given, with a focus on the preparation process of soybean proteins. Moreover, the mechanism for the effect of the structure of soybean protein components on their functions is summarized. This review is expected to provide a reference for the quality control of soybean and soybean protein products.