Not long ago, McDonald's announced that it will test the plant meat hamburger mcplant in specific restaurants in the United States, which is another attempt for plant meat to enter chain restaurants. In recent years, vegetable meat has become a hot track, with the continuous influx of capital and the overweight layout of enterprises. Many chain catering giants, including KFC, Starbucks and pizza hut, have launched or will soon launch plant meat products in the Chinese market. So, what is plant meat? How is vegetable meat made? What is its nutritional value? In response to the above problems, the reporter of science and technology daily interviewed relevant experts. Soybeans, wheat and mushrooms are all raw materials for making "meat" Meat is rich in nutrition and is an essential food for human beings. According to the prediction of the food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, by 2050, the world population will grow to 9 billion and the global meat consumption will reach 455 million tons. With the continuous improvement of social and economic development level, the consumption of traditional meat products is growing rapidly, which also brings more and more environmental and resource problems. In order to alleviate the pressure of environmental resources, people gradually pay attention to the field of plant protein, in order to supplement the protein needed by human body through plant protein. In fact, plant meat is not a new concept. Tracing back to the history of plant meat, China made meat like dishes with beans, peanuts, gluten and other raw materials thousands of years ago, which can not only meet people's desire for speech, but also meet the pursuit of vegetarian food. Hu Qiuhui, an expert in the product processing of the national edible fungus industry technology system, told the science and Technology Daily that the main raw materials of plant meat, or plant protein meat and vegetarian meat, are plant proteins, such as soybean protein, wheat protein, pea protein, etc. "There are many kinds of raw materials for making plant meat. As a large agricultural country, China has the highest annual output of soybean and wheat in the world, and they can be used to make plant meat," Hu Qiuhui said. With the progress of technology, edible fungi have become another raw material of plant meat. "Taking Lentinus edodes as an example, it has more dietary fiber, which meets the needs of a healthy diet, but if you want to give it the taste of meat, you need to carry out high-speed shear emulsification, transglutaminase texture improvement and dehydration fibrosis." Zhao Liyan, Professor of the food College of Nanjing Agricultural University, introduced that after some treatment, the elasticity and hardness of Lentinus edodes can be similar to that of meat, And can have a relatively strong meat aroma. The taste of plant meat is close to that of real meat, but the price is high The 2021 white paper on insight into China's plant meat industry jointly released by a domestic plant meat enterprise and Bloomberg BusinessWeek shows that with the progress of food industry technology in recent years, plant protein can simulate fibrous animal protein through complex purification, extrusion, expansion and shaping, Even the sense of juice is close to animal meat. On an e-commerce platform, the reporter entered the "plant meat" search and found that in the flagship store of a plant meat brand, the total price of a package of 248 grams of vegetarian crispy chicken and a package of 278 grams of vegetarian braised lion head is 69.93 yuan. In the comment area, consumers rated "full of meat", "really good to eat", "good taste" and so on. At the fourth China International Import Expo held recently, several domestic brand manufacturers exhibited new plant meat products. A manufacturer invited the chef to make "small crisp meat" and "cod fillet" made of plant meat on site. However, the sales person in charge of the manufacturer also admitted that the price of plant meat is high, which is generally 10% to 50% higher than real meat. Hu Qiuhui told reporters that in fact, plant meat was first popular abroad. People respected it not because of its high nutritional value, but because its popularity is more related to the trend of environmentalism and vegetarianism. At present, there is a lack of this cultural environment in China, which also leads to the promotion of plant meat is not smooth. It is more suitable for people who often eat big fish and meat The reporter found on the Internet that many people are worried about the nutrition of plant meat. Nutritionist Gu Zhong Yi wrote in his official WeChat official account that vegetable protein products generally contain higher protein content, lower calorie and a certain dietary fiber, so for those who are often heavy fish, edible vegetable meat may be healthier, but for strict vegetarians, it may not be appropriate. "When we eat meat at ordinary times, we can not only get protein, but also get nutrients such as iron and vitamin B12, which are almost absent in plants, which is why some long-term vegetarians may have anemia," Gu Zhongyi said. Considering the single nutritional composition of soybean protein, the product processing research team of the national edible fungus industry technology system has preliminarily developed the Mushroom Sausage with unique flavor after many years of scientific research. Zhao Liyan introduced that edible fungi contain rich types of amino acids, which can provide 8 kinds of amino acids. They also contain nutrients such as active polysaccharides and immunomodulatory proteins. They are ideal plant-based meat raw materials. "In the long run, after solving the problem of satiety, consumers begin to pay attention to the diversification of diet. Plant meat contains more protein and less fat. With the change of people's way of thinking, it is believed that plant meat will have a certain market foundation and consumer group," Hu Qiuhui said. (outlook new era)