Nutritional compositions, total phenolics, antioxidant capacities, and students’ knowledge level about plant-based meat items

• Main Author: Bong, Elisa Tsyr Yin
• Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Q Science (General); SB Plant culture
• Online Access: http://eprints.utar.edu.my/6150/1/DT_2023_2004785_Elisa_Bong_Tsyr_Yin.pdf; http://eprints.utar.edu.my/6150/
• Institution: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Recent trend of plant-based diet has led to the rise of plant-based meat (PBM) items. PBM refers to artificial meat products made from plant sources (e.g. soy protein, wheat gluten, legume proteins), designed to replicate the flavour, taste, and appearance of conventional meat. There are more and more plant-based products available in the market. However, there is a lack of study on the nutritional values of PBM in Malaysia. Also, there were no recent study on the knowledge level regarding PBM items among consumers, particularly undergraduate students in Malaysia. Therefore, proximate analysis, total phenolics, and antioxidant assays (DPPH and ABTS) were conducted on three local PBM dishes (n=3). The knowledge level on PBM items were assessed among UTAR undergraduate students as well. The result demonstrated significant difference (p <0.05) for ash and moisture content, in which ash ranged from 0.31 – 0.83% while moisture ranged from 51.40 – 62.70%. In terms of macronutrients, the PBM samples had high carbohydrates (25.31 – 37.25%), followed by high dietary fiber (1.00 – 8.50%), low fat (1.89 – 3.11%), and low protein (0.07 – 0.13%). The sample showed significant total phenolics content (1.00 – 3.17 (μg GAE/g), DPPH (AA%: 18.52 – 70.76%) and ABTS (AA%: 34.86 – 59.99%). The Pearson’s correlation revealed strong correlation between total phenolics content with DPPH (r = 0.881) and ABTS (r = 0.952), indicating a strong association in which high phenolics contributed to high antioxidant level. Besides, based on Bloom’s cut-off category, the results from questionnaires showed that UTAR undergraduate students had limited knowledge level on PBM items. Ultimately, this study may raise awareness about the need for more educational efforts to improve the consumers’ understanding of PBM