ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN PLANT-BASED MEAT ALTERNATIVE FOODS: TOTAL CONTENT AND BIOACCESSIBLE FRACTION

Plant-based meat alternatives are obtained from foods that contain different vegetable proteins. The food industry is interested in products that are comparable to the nutritional, physicochemical, and sensory qualities of animal meat due to the high demand for alternative meat alternatives. In this context, it is important to evaluate the composition of the essential elements (Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn) in commercial plant-based meat alternatives, as well as to estimate their bioaccessible fractions to assess its quality. Twelve samples of plant-based chicken, ground beef, beef burger flavor, codfish cake, fish fillet, and kibbeh, as well as their meat analogues (chicken, beef, fish, and codfish) were selected. The samples were mineralized by microwave digestion using HNO₃ and H₂O₂ and the essential elements were determined by ICP OES. The mineral bioaccessibility was evaluated using the INFOGEST 2.0 protocol. All determinations were performed in triplicate. The essential elements were determined by ICP OES Total content in plant-based ranged from (mg/100g): Ca (49.1 to 117), Cu (0.163 to 0.418), Fe (4.57 to 24.2), Mn (0.53 to 1.57); whilst meat products presented lower levels (Ca: 5.83 to 57, Cu: 0.004 to 0.152, Fe: 0.63 to 2.57, Mn: <0.04 to 0.44). For the mineral bioaccessibility, the values ranged from (%): Ca (12 to 44), Cu (47 to 80), Fe (6.7 to 29) and Mn (8.9 to 40) in plant-based samples, whilst meat products showed values: Ca (16-70), Cu (0-53), Fe (29 to 78) and Mn (0 to 66). The highest percentages observed were: Ca (ground beef); Cu (plant-based chicken); Fe (breaded tilapia fillet) and Mn (chicken and beef burger). In general, the plant-based foods studied contain higher total contents of Ca, Cu, Fe and Mn than their meat analogues. However, the Ca, Fe and Mn bioaccessibility in plant-based foods are lower comparing to the meat source.