CSIR-IHBT and GFI India study shows plant-based meat can deliver more bioavailable protein than chicken

Key facts

• A joint study by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) and the Good Food Institute (GFI) India found that plant-based meat available in the Indian market can deliver comparable or higher absorbable (bioavailable) protein than conventional meat.
• The joint report titled 'Protein quality and bioavailability of indigenous crop-based ingredients and plant-based meat products in India' was launched at the CSIR Science Centre.
• After cooking, two plant-based seekh kebabs recorded 81 per cent and 86 per cent protein bioavailability compared with 39 per cent for conventional chicken, plant-based patties scored 57 per cent and 58 per cent against 21 per cent for chicken, and plant-based nuggets scored 61 per cent against 43 per cent for chicken nuggets.
• Researchers tested five commercial plant-based meat products against conventional counterparts using laboratory simulations of human digestion, and cooking raised or retained absorbable protein in four of the five plant-based products while reducing it in certain conventional options.
• The study of indigenous pulses and millets found pressure cooking nearly quadrupled bioavailable protein in cowpea and raised it in chickpea, fermentation more than tripled it in mung beans, and millets responded favourably to sprouting and fermentation.
• CSIR-IHBT Director Sudesh Kumar Yadav noted that despite being the world's largest producer of millets and pulses, India imports the majority of its plant protein concentrates and isolates.