High-moisture Extrusion Technology Application in the Processing of Textured Plant Protein Meat Analogues: A Review

The development of meat alternatives is a sustainable choice to meet eco-friendly and healthy demands. High-moisture extrusion (HME) technology has been applied to produce the textured plant proteins, which are recognized as meat analogues and have characteristics, nutrition, sensory attributes, and apparent fiber structure similar to animal meat. Although the production of HME meat analogues has a lot of advantages and broad prospects, the processing principle and quality control remain to be studied, and the current HME technology has not yet been popularized. In this paper, we review the HME technology, the formation mechanism of HME meat analogues, the effect of food ingredients on meat analogues processing, the systematic analysis method of meat analogues processing, and detection and evaluation methods of meat analogues. Our review would provide a comprehensive understanding and theoretical guidance for HME application in meat analogues processing.