Protein from plant-based ‘meat’ may be less well absorbed by the body

The protein found in meat alternatives made from wheat and soy may be less absorbed by the small intestine into the bloodstream than the protein in chicken breasts

By carissa wong

Dietary protein from plant-based meat alternatives may not be absorbed as well as protein from chicken breast.

“This work opens a door to the nutritional properties of plant-based meat alternatives,” he says. Da Chen Y Osvaldo Campanella, who led the research at The Ohio State University. Chen now works at the University of Idaho.

In their lab experiment, Chen, Campanella, and their colleagues grew a layer of human intestine cells on scaffolding that divided several plates into two chambers. They then used enzymes from the stomach and small intestine to digest a plant-based meat alternative and a cooked chicken breast, before adding each digested product to a chamber on each plate.

Next, the team measured the number of protein fragments, or peptides, that passed through the intestinal cell layer to reach the opposite chamber in each dish, representing protein absorption through the gut.

Within four hours of being added to the dish, which is the longest typical transit time for food in the small intestine, about 2 percent less protein from the plant-based meat alternative had transferred to through intestinal cells, compared to chicken protein. breast. Although this is a small percentage difference, statistical analysis suggests that this result was not a chance finding.

Therefore, eating meat alternatives may result in less protein being absorbed through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. The researchers did not test whether this reduced absorption leads to protein deficiency.

In the second part of the experiment, the team analyzed peptides from digested food and found that protein fragments from chicken breast are smaller and more soluble in water than meat alternative peptides.

“It has been shown that peptides of smaller size and larger [solubility] can transfer more easily through [these gut] cells,” say Campanella and Chen.

However, the lab model is a highly simplified version of the intestine that lacks the mucous lining found in the body, they say.

“In the intestine, peptides need to pass through a layer of mucus… which serves as a filter… before reaching the cells of the intestinal epithelium. [We tested protein absorption] disregarding the mucus layer,” says the couple.

Protein absorption can also differ in the large intestine, where food can remain for up to 24 hours, a period of time that was not evaluated in the experiment.

Additionally, protein absorption from plant-based meat alternatives and meats other than chicken breast depends on their individual protein composition and processing.

Despite their results, the team maintains that plant-based meat alternatives are probably a good source of protein.

“Although plant-based meat alternatives had less absorbed peptides, they still provide a good amino acid profile and could be a suitable addition to a well-balanced diet,” say Campanella and Chen.

Researchers are now working to improve the nutrition absorbed from plant-based meat alternatives.

“Plant-based foods need to be carefully designed to ensure they have similar or better nutritional profiles than animal-based foods,” he says. David Julian McClements at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Magazine reference: Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry , DOI: doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c01711