How Do We Make Plant-Based Meat Behave Like the Real Thing?
- Ryan Wu
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
In the past decade, we’ve seen brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat work to create the ultimate food: one that combines the tenderness and juiciness of meat with the nutrition and cruelty-free cultivation of plants. But the question remains: how do we make fake meat taste like the real thing?
Firstly, researchers at these companies needed to make a fake meat whose texture could effectively mimic animal tissue. One key difference between plants and animals is the type of fat they contain: animal fats tend to be saturated, meaning they have only single bonds between carbon atoms, while plant fats tend to be unsaturated, meaning they have at least one double bond in the molecule. The presence of only single bonds allows animal fats to be solid at room temperature, as the uniformity of the bonds allow them to stack neatly on top of each other. However, the double bond of the plant fats prevents stacking, making these fats liquid at room temperature.
The saturated fats of animals allows for the juicy, mouth-coating feel of meat that most of us are used to. To achieve this effect, plant-based meats use coconut oils, which are also highly saturated and thus are solid at room temperature. However, coconut oils tend to melt faster and at a lower temperature than meat fats, causing the juiciness to wear off quicker.
Secondly, how might we achieve the redness of beef in plant-based beef patties? In real beef, a compound called myoglobin, which is responsible for oxygen transport from the bloodstream to muscle cells, gives the patty its signature red color. Impossible Foods uses another compound called leghemoglobin, which is found in the roots of legumes and is also responsible for oxygen transport. According to Impossible Foods, this compound also gives their meat a more “meaty” flavor. On the other hand, Beyond Meat uses the slightly more boring method of using beef extract to get beef’s signature redness.
Finally, how do we get the flavor of plant-based meat to taste like the real thing? It’s a little hard to say, as these companies are a little secretive due to the FDA only requiring them to disclose whether they use “natural flavors” or “artificial flavors,” not the exact flavoring agents. However, we do know that these brands make use of the Maillard reaction, which is the chemical process behind the browning that gives meat its rich, complex flavor profile. We know that developers use browning agents, such as cysteine, methionine and lysine, sugars, and the vitamin thiamin.
Plants and animals can have wildly similar or different biological processes. But whether it’s real meat or fake meat, the science behind the two is always fascinating!
Ryan Wu is a rising junior at Hunter College High School in New York, New York. He has participated in the highly selective Science Honors Program at Columbia University since 2024, where he studied university-level topics such as immunology, toxicology, bioengineering, and biotechnology. He currently serves as the layout editor and writer for EATS Food Magazine.
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