Water release kinetics from soy protein gels and meat analogues as studied with confined compression

In this paper, we report on the use of confined compression to study the water release properties from food gels and model meat analogues. Confined compression is a novel method in food science that provides information on the dynamics of water release under mechanical load. Confined compression measurements are compared with numerical simulations based on Flory-Rehner theory. Simulation results for soy protein gels are in reasonable agreement with experiments, while they underestimate the water release from model meat analogues. Time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) revealed the presence of internal water-filled cavities in the meat analogues. These cavities could provide a path of low resistance for the water to travel through. However, they are not captured by our current model, which explains the higher fluxes observed experimentally. Our results indicate a relation between the water release properties of meat analogues and pore structure. Control of the pore structure might, therefore, provide new opportunities to improve meat analogue juiciness.