Response surface methodology‒guided color simulation of plant-based meat analogues before and after oven cooking: prickly pear cactus, mugwort, and sweet pumpkin pigments

Abstract

This research aimed to find natural pigments that would give meat analogues the color of real meat, both before and after oven cooking. The natural pigments used were from the prickly pear cactus, mugwort, and sweet pumpkin. The key ingredient was the prickly pear cactus pigment, which consists mainly of betalains and loses its red color when exposed to heat. Yellow pigment derived from sweet pumpkin and green pigment derived from mugwort worked in synergy, and this mixture gave the analogues the characteristic brown hue of well-cooked meat. The optimal pigment ratios were established using response surface methodology, tailored for different meat types and cooking conditions. Quantitative findings revealed that the P3M1S1 combination at a 3% concentration provided the coloring most like that of real meat before and after cooking. In addition, sensory assessments confirmed that this mixture gave tasters an experience almost identical to that of eating actual meat. Response surface methodology validated the predictive accuracy, with deviations of less than 5% for color and less than 10% for sensory attributes. In addition, changes in important compounds responsible for color were identified when heat reduced the amounts of betalain in prickly pear cactus pigment and chlorophyll in mugwort pigment.