Development of plant-based burgers using gelled emulsions as fat source and beetroot juice as colorant: Effects on chemical, physicochemical, appearance and sensory characteristics

The aim of this study was to develop plant-based burgers using gelled emulsions (GE, with chia and hemp oil) as fat source and, beetroot juice (fresh and commercial) as colorant ingredient and to assess their quality properties. Burgers with low fat content (<3%) and remarkable protein (18.6–19.5%) and dietary fiber content (14.5–16.2%) were obtained. The use of GE allows improving their lipid profile being PUFAs the main fraction (>57%, PUFA/SFA >4.5, n-6/n-3 < 4) with differences in the main fatty acid (>40%) depending on the GE used: α-linolenic in the case of chia-GE and linoleic when hemp-GE was used. The use of beetroot fresh juice allows to obtain burgers with a redness similar to that of traditional meat burgers (16–21), with higher betalains content (27–38 mg/100 g dw) but more susceptible to color changes during cooking than when commercial juice was used. Plant-based burgers suffer less cooking loss (14–17%) and dimensional changes (shrinkage 3–5% and not thickness increase) than reported for traditional meat burgers. According to the results of sensory evaluation, although all plant-based burgers were scored with a good overall acceptability, it could be enhanced by the ingredient optimization because each of the ingredients studied either improved or worsened the different attributes assessed. • Innovations in plant-based burger (PBB) ingredients to improve them. • It was feasible the use of gelled emulsions (from chia and hemp oil) as fat source. • Their use allows to obtain PBB with low fat content and healthy lipid profile. • Beetroot juice (commercial or fresh) as key point in PBB red color and betanin content. • PBB with good overall acceptance that could be improve optimizing these ingredients.