Research Information System
Gumushane Universitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, vol.15, no.2, pp.474-485, 2025 (Scopus)
According to the Nova food classification system, plant proteins containing vegan analogues are classified into processed and ultra-processed. The recent sectoral developments highlight the importance of nutritional assessments of plant proteins and vegan analogues. This study investigated the protein level, essential (EAA)-and non-essential (non-EAA) amino acid profiles, and cytotoxic effects of plant-based proteins and meat analogues. Therefore, four meat products (burger meatball, pastırma, stuffed meatball, and sausage), soy and pea proteins, and four meat analogues were purchased from retail markets. All samples were subjected to the Kjeldahl test for protein content (%), LC-MS/MS test for EAA-and non-EAA profiles, and MTS assay for their cytotoxic effects. The results showed that the protein contents of soy protein, pea protein, meat analogues, and animal-origin meat products were determined to be 60.9%, 81.8%, 18.5 ± 9.3%, and 18.1 ± 9.7%, respectively. The EAA to non-EAA ratio in the meat analogues and meat products was 29.2/70.8 and 27.9/72.1, respectively. Besides, the MTS test indicated that the cell viability of HCT-116 cells at 24th and 48th h in the sausage analogues was significantly reduced by 59.84 ± 1.84%. In contrast, in pastırma and beef stuffed meatball analogues at 48th h, it was significantly decreased by 57.34 ± 0.52% and 62.70 ± 0.79%, respectively (p<0.05). Overall, we concluded that the health effects of processed and ultra-processed plant-based proteins and meat analogues on human health need further investigation through bioavailability and molecular-based techniques.