Effect of young jackfruit, wheat gluten and soy protein isolate on physicochemical properties of chicken meat analogs

Abstract

Importance of the work: Young jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a raw material that is increasingly used in plant-based meat products because of its fiber-like texture.
Objectives: To investigate the effect of young jackfruit, wheat gluten and soy protein isolate on the physicochemical properties of chicken meat analogs.
Materials & Methods: The seven formulas of chicken meat analogs were created using mixture design. The effect was investigated of three independent variables—30–50% young jackfruit (YJ), 10–15% wheat gluten (WG) and 1–2% soy protein isolate (SPI)—on the physicochemical properties of the chicken meat analogs.
Results: The chicken meat analog with a high level of YJ had a higher moisture content and brightness value, whereas hardness, chewiness and shear force had lower values. The shear force and integrity index were higher with higher concentrations of WG. Hardness and chewiness were higher with higher levels of SPI. Compared to mock chicken and steamed chicken, the chicken meat analogs had lower hardness, chewiness and shear force. The microstructure of the analog sample with a high level of YJ exhibited fiber-like characteristics and contained some pores between the fiber strands. The analog samples with high amounts of SPI displayed a dense structure with no layers, in contrast to the analog samples with high levels of WG, which displayed layered structures.
The sensory evaluation results revealed that 40.64% YJ, 20.32% WG and 1.35% SPI received the highest overall acceptability score.
Main finding: Young jackfruit improved the microstructure of chicken meat analogs and provided better texture characteristics exhibiting anisotropic (layered or fibrous) structures when used in combination with wheat gluten and soy protein isolate.