Protein quality and bioavailability of indigenous crop-based ingredients and plant-based meat products in India

Protein  quantity  claims  have  become  increasingly  common  across the packaged food industry. But do they paint the full picture?  And do we need a more meaningful differentiator to assess nutritional value? The opportunity lies in moving beyond protein content to protein quality. India’s plant-based sector can benefit from a shift in consumer-facing nutrition communication, from ‘x g of protein’ to ‘x g of complete, digestible and bioavailable protein’. Benchmarking  taste, texture, and cost parity of alternative proteins must be built on the foundation of more than just the equivalence of nutritional quantity, but quality as well. Future innovation in plant-based meat must prioritise protein quality and bioavailability, supported by robust evidence on how ingredient selection, processing, and cooking influence these metrics.  

As  the  world’s  largest  producer  of  millets  and  pulses,  India  has  a  significant  opportunity  to  build  a diverse  and  domestic  protein  ingredient  ecosystem  for  the  plant-based  alternative  protein  sector. Realising  this  potential  requires  evidence-based  crop  selection.  Further,  the  nutritional value of these crops must be assessed beyond the ingredient level, within the complex matrices of foods as consumed. At  present,  the  Indian  market  comprises  200+  plant-based  meat  products across 20+ major formats, predominantly ready-to-cook. Back-of-pack labels declare protein content per 100 g or serving, but do not  indicate  how  much  of  that  protein  becomes  available for utilisation by the body after cooking and digestion.   This study assesses the protein quality of both ingredients and end-products, using measures of protein solubility,  in  vitro  bioaccessibility  and  bioavailability. It also tests the hypothesis that processing does not  inherently  compromise  protein  quality.  Specifically,  it  evaluates:  (1)  which  biological or thermal processing approaches best enhance protein quality in millets and pulses before further processing; (2) the effects of dry versus wet fractionation on protein quality parameters; and (3) the effects of cooking on  protein  bioavailability  across  commercial  plant-based  meat  formats,  including  chunks,  keema, kebabs, patties and nuggets. 

The key findings are as follows:

●  Protein  content  ≠  Protein  digestibility ≠ Protein bioavailability. Processing can substantially alter  protein  solubility,  digestion,  and  the  fraction  potentially  available  for absorption, without corresponding changes in total protein content.  

●  Processing  effects  are  crop-dependent.  The  optimal  approach  depends  on  the  crop,  the specific  factors  limiting  protein  digestion,  and  the  mechanism  by  which  a  processing  method mitigates these barriers.   

●  Biological  processing  shows  promise  for  millets.  Sprouting  and  fermentation  improve  the bioavailable  fraction,  suggesting  their  potential  to  enhance  protein  accessibility  prior  to extraction. 

●  Pulses  benefit  from  both thermal and biological processing. Pressure cooking enhances the bioavailable fraction in chickpea and cowpea, while fermentation performs favourably across the pulses studied. 

●  Extraction  method  must  be  aligned  with ingredient application. Wet fractionation results in higher  protein  concentration  and  bioavailable  fraction for nutrition-focused applications, while dry  fractionation  better  preserves  solubility  and  can  support  functionality-driven,  clean-label applications.  

●  Cooking  plant-based  meat  does  not  necessarily  compromise  protein  quality. In four of the five  product  formats  tested,  cooking  either  increases  or  retains  the  bioaccessible  and bioavailable  fractions  of  protein,  with  outcomes  shaped  by  protein  source,  processing  history and product format. 

●  Plant-based  meat  can  deliver  comparable  or  higher  bioavailable  fractions  of  protein than animal-derived  meat.  Across the product formats evaluated in this study, cooked plant-based meat  products  demonstrate  a  higher  percentage  bioavailability  of  protein  than  their corresponding  animal-derived  meat  products.  The  use  of  protein  concentrates  that  have undergone  prior  processing  and  partial  structural  modification  may  contribute  towards accessibility  to  digestive  enzymes  and  enhanced  protein  digestibility  in  plant-based  meat products. 

Overall,  these findings indicate that protein quality and bioavailability are influenced by processing and product structure, rather than being determined solely by the plant- or animal-derived origin of the protein.