Abstract: The goal of this research was to identify the uses of eggs in food applications and to evaluate the potential of current commercially available plant-based protein alternatives to replace them.
A review of commercial food products has identified 100+ different products containing eggs in different food categories: bakery and snack, cakes and desserts, confectionary, condiments, meat and seafoods alternatives, pasta, ice-creams and wine-making. Their functional properties are very diverse: binding, emulsifying, thickening, browning and nutrition. Whole eggs are used in about 50% of commercial products, egg yolks in 25% and egg whites in 25% of them depending on the functionality desired.
10 commercially available protein ingredients were collected from various plant sources (soy, pea, fava bean, potato, canola and hemp), at different degree of purity and different suppliers. The functional properties previously identified on eggs were evaluated and compared to egg. The functional properties of plant-based alternatives are extremely diverse. It appears that plant-based alternatives can match eggs for some individual attributes (foaming, gelling, emulsifying…) but none of the sources tested possesses the versatility of eggs. In terms of nutrition, plant-based alternatives are also very diverse in terms of essential amino acids profiles and digestibility. Some of the plant-based alternatives tested contain anti-nutrients (molecules naturally found in nature which can impair digestion) which may limit their uses.
Some of these alternatives were used to design and produce egg-free products: egg-free mayonnaise, egg-free meringues and egg-free meatless burgers. For all of these three products, some plant-based alternatives enabled the production of products with satisfactory quality
.jpg)