　　Photo courtesy of vision china

　　Not long ago, McDonald’s announced that it will test the plant meat burger McPlant in a specific restaurant in the United States, which is another attempt for plant meat to enter the chain restaurant.

　　In recent years, vegetable meat has become a popular track, capital has been pouring in, and enterprises have increased their layout. Many chain catering giants, including KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut, have already launched or will soon launch plant meat products in China market.

　　So, what exactly is plant meat? How is vegetable meat made? What is its nutritional value?

　　In response to the above problems, the Science and Technology Daily reporter interviewed relevant experts.

　　Soybean, wheat and mushroom are all raw materials for making "meat"

　　Meat is rich in nutrition and is an indispensable food for human beings. According to the forecast of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, by 2050, the world population will grow to 9 billion, and the global meat consumption will reach 455 million tons.

　　With the continuous improvement of social and economic development, the consumption of traditional meat products has increased rapidly, which has also brought more and more environmental and resource problems.

　　In order to alleviate the pressure of environmental resources, people gradually turned their attention to the field of plant protein, aiming at supplementing protein needed by human body through plant protein.

　　Actually, vegetable meat is not a new concept. Tracing back to the history of plant meat, China used beans, peanuts, gluten and other raw materials to make meat-like dishes thousands of years ago, which can not only satisfy people’s appetite but also meet the pursuit of vegetarianism.

　　Hu Qiuhui, a product processing post expert in the national edible fungus industrial technology system, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter that the main raw materials of plant meat, or vegetable protein meat and vegetarian meat, are plant proteins, such as soybean protein, wheat protein and pea protein.

　　"There are many kinds of raw materials for making plant meat. As a large agricultural country, China’s annual output of soybeans and wheat ranks among the highest in the world, and they can all be used to make plant meat. " Hu Qiuhui said.

　　With the development of technology, edible fungi have also become another major raw material for plant meat. "Take Lentinus edodes as an example, its dietary fiber is more, which meets the needs of a healthy diet. However, in order to give it the taste of meat, it is necessary to carry out high-speed shear emulsification, transglutaminase texture improvement and dehydration fibrosis." Zhao Liyan, a professor at the College of Food Science of Nanjing Agricultural University, said that after some treatments, the elasticity and hardness of shiitake mushrooms can be similar to that of meat, and they can have a strong meat flavor.

　　The taste of vegetable meat is close to that of real meat, but the price is high.

　　The "White Paper on Insights of China Vegetable Meat Industry in 2021" jointly published by a domestic vegetable meat enterprise and Bloomberg Businessweek shows that with the development of food industry technology in recent years, vegetable protein can simulate fibrous animal protein through complicated purification, extrusion, puffing and shaping, and its color, smell, chewing feeling and even juice feeling are close to those of animal meat.

　　On an e-commerce platform, the reporter entered the "vegetable meat" search and found that in a flagship store of a vegetable meat brand, the total price of a pack of 248 grams of vegetarian crispy chicken pieces and a pack of 278 grams of vegetarian braised lion heads was 69.93 yuan. In the comment area, consumers commented on "meaty", "really delicious" and "good taste".

　　At the 4th China International Import Expo held recently, many domestic brand manufacturers exhibited new plant meat products, and one manufacturer even asked the chef to make "small crispy meat" and "cod fillet" made of plant meat on the spot, but the sales person in charge of the manufacturer also admitted that the price of plant meat was on the high side, generally 10% to 50% more expensive than real meat.

　　Hu Qiuhui told reporters that in fact, plant meat was first popular abroad, and people respected it not because of its high nutritional value, but because of the trend of environmentalism and vegetarianism. However, the lack of such a cultural environment in China has also led to the unsatisfactory promotion of plant meat.

　　More suitable for people who often eat big fish and meat.

　　The reporter found on the Internet that many people are worried about the nutrition of plant meat.

　　Nutritionist Gu Zhongyi wrote in his official WeChat WeChat official account that vegetable protein products are generally high in protein, relatively low in calories and contain certain dietary fiber, so it may be healthier for people who often eat big fish and meat, but it may not be suitable for strict vegetarians.

　　"We usually eat meat, in addition to getting protein, we also get nutrients such as iron and vitamin B12, which are almost absent in plants, which is why some people who are vegetarian for a long time may have anemia." Gu Zhongyi said.

　　Considering that the nutritional components of soybean protein are relatively single, the product processing research team of the National Edible Fungus Industry Technology System has preliminarily developed Lentinus edodes sausage with unique flavor after years of scientific research. Zhao Liyan introduced that edible fungi are rich in amino acids, can provide 8 kinds of amino acids, and also contain nutrients such as active polysaccharides and immunomodulatory proteins. They are ideal plant-based meat raw materials.

　　"In the long run, after solving the problem of satiety, consumers began to pay attention to the diversification of diet. Plant meat contains more protein and less fat. With the change of people’s way of thinking, it is believed that plant meat will have a certain market base and consumer groups. " Hu Qiuhui said.