Apparent universality of leguminous proteins in swelling and fibre formation when mixed with gluten

Fibrous meat analogues can be made through shear-induced structuring from gluten in combination with a second protein. A combination of swelling experiments and shear-cell structuring was used to investigate the relation between fibrousness and the presence of a continuous gluten network for mixtures containing gluten and either pea protein, fababean protein or soy protein. When the gluten content of the mixed gels increased, swelling of the other protein decreased proportionately. This suggested the presence of a continuous gluten network. Normalization of the swelling data resulted in an apparent master curve. The strain on the non-gluten protein was derived from the swelling data and increased with increasing gluten content. Structuring the protein mixtures in a High Temperature Shear Cell resulted in fibrous structures at gluten contents ≥0.5 wt/wt. The effect of gluten on swelling and fibre formation is universal for the tested proteins. We, therefore, propose that in gluten-containing mixtures, a continuous gluten network is required for the formation of fibres, while the second protein acts merely as a filler and is replaceable.