Texture profile analysis of homogenized meat and plant-based patties

The objective of this study has been to verify whether a combination of the standard Texture Profile Analysis and the back extrusion, which we have named “TPAH” since the analysis was performed after homogenization, can be applied to products that are difficult to handle. The TPAH was applied to 180 samples, divided equally into 18 batches of home-made pea-based patties, commercially pea-based patties, and meat patties. Seven TPAH parameters were measured on both raw and cooked samples: adhesiveness, chewiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, hardness, springiness and resilience. The specific density of the raw and cooked samples as well as a few physico-chemical parameters were also measured. All TPAH parameters were able to clearly discriminate between home-made, commercial, and meat patties (P-value <.05 to 0.001). A Canonical Discriminant Analysis highlighted the effectiveness of TPAH on both raw patties (R2 = 0.960, Wilks’ Lamba test Pr < 0.0001) and cooked ones (R2 = 0.955, Wilks’ Lamba test Pr < 0.0001). Even when the Canonical Discriminant Analysis was narrowed to cooked plant-based patties, the method proved to be efficient (R2 = 0.809, Wilks’ Lamba test Pr < 0.0001). The protein content was significantly related to all the TPAH parameters, except for adhesiveness. The TPAH method could be useful in research related to the substitution of meat patties with plant-based ones.