Hybrid extrusion printing as a novel strategy to engineer structurally complex extrusion-based meat analogues with enhanced liquid release

Meat analogues continue to gain relevance, yet the replication of whole cut meat products still presents substantial challenges, particularly regarding texture and juiciness.
In this study, we introduce Hybrid Extrusion Printing (HEP), a novel co-extrusion-based approach that employs a specially designed bi-stream breaker plate system for high moisture meat analogue (HMMA) production. The system divides the protein-mass from the extruder's screw section into individual streams, while simultaneously distributing a secondary binder-stream between of them. Feasibility was assessed on the model system soy protein isolate for the protein-mass and gelatin for the binder-stream, examining different process parameters such as temperature and binder-stream flow rate. Optical and mechanical methods are used to evaluate the resulting product properties. Furthermore, rheological properties, including viscosity and relaxation time, were elucidated under extrusion-relevant conditions for a better process understanding with a focus on flow stability.
The findings demonstrate the strong potential of using HEP for production of complex structured protein-based food systems. ... mehrWhile an increased protein-mass temperature led to a stronger healing of adjacent macroscopic strands and thus to a fourfold decrease in anisotropy, the binder-stream decoupled the effect of protein-mass temperature from inter-strand healing. Moreover, the addition of the binder-stream resulted in a significant increase in compressive liquid release, independent of protein-mass temperature, with values up to 13 wt% liquid release.