Materials and technologies for manufacturing alternative protein foods

The increase in meat consumption is linked to various issues such as environmental, animal welfare, and global food security, and research on alternative proteins to animal proteins such as plant-based alternatives, cultured meat, edible insects, and microbial proteins has increased significantly as a response to these issues. Although plant-based alternatives have advanced safety and marketability, they differ from conventional meat in taste, physical properties, and nutrition, and cultured meat has many challenges to be resolved in terms of production costs and technology. It is still difficult for alternative proteins to be a perfect substitute for conventional meat, but this can be overcome by improving protein sources, developing new protein sources, and developing processing processes. In addition, it is expected that the development of healthier alternatives to conventional meat through changes in nutritional composition will contribute to human health as well as an solution to global food security.