What is ‘meat’ from plants and is ‘just like’ meat vegetarian?

Subject: Science and Technology

Context-

Last week, meat and seafood retailer Licious forayed into the marketing of “mock” chicken and mutton under a new ‘UnCrave’ brand.
Also, various celebrities like M.S. Dhoni, Actor couple Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh, former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma are investing, promoting and shifting to plant-based meat products.
Companies and Startups in this segment are- ShakaHarry, California-based Beyond Meat and alternative protein startup, Blue Tribe among others.

Plant-based meat-

“Plant-based” refers to products that bio-mimic or replicate meat, seafood, eggs, and milk derived from animals — by looking, smelling, and tasting like them.
Beyond Meat’s patties, apart from using coconut oil to copy the melty beef fat of a real hamburger, apparently even bleed as they cook — the “blood” coming from a beetroot juice-based liquid.

How are these made?

Animal meat contains protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water, just like plants.
This biochemical similarity allows for finding analogues in the plant kingdom or making them through mechanical, chemical, or biological treatment of such ingredients.
The challenge lies in replicating muscle tissue that plants don’t have.
The unique spatial arrangement of proteins in these tissues is what creates the distinct texture of animal meat.
That’s why plant-based mutton samosas, kebabs or keema, having a simpler texture, are easier to make than larger whole cuts of animal meat such as chicken breasts and pork chops.
As for plant-based dairy, the main products are milk from oats, almond, soyabean, coconut, and rice.
Among these, oat milk is considered the closest to regular milk in taste and texture.
It is also thicker and creamier, as oats absorb more water than nuts or rice during soaking, and more of the grain gets strained for incorporation into the final product.
Oat milk players include the Swedish company Oatlyand the Bengaluru-headquartered Alt Co.

How big is the industry?

According to the Good Foods Institute at Washington DC, retail sales of plant-based animal product alternatives in the US stood at $7.4 billion in 2021.
The industry has grown from $4.8 billion in 2018.
Sales of plant-based meat — which also has other big names like Impossible Foods and the Kellogg Company-owned MorningStar Farms — were flat in 2021, with even milk growing at only 4%.

What is the scope in India?

Probably not much, at least in dairy.
Most Indians take naturally to milk, which is a classic “superior food”.
Both milk (which includes ghee, curd, butter, ice-cream and other dairy products) and, to a lesser extent, meat (which includes fish and prawn) are superior foods — unlike cereals and sugar, whose share in the value of consumption reduces with increasing incomes, making them “inferior foods”.