Hybrid Meat Products: Using Plant, Fungi, and Insect Sources for Flexitarian Diets—Technological, Nutritional and Sensory Insights

The production of meat proteins is quite costly for the environment as it requires significant amounts of land, water resources, energy, and raw materials. Population growth predicted for 2050 increases global demand for high-quality, complete proteins, such as animal-based proteins. There is growing interest in developing flexitarian dietary patterns for sustainability, health, and wellness. Thus, the use of meat protein replacers to develop hybrid products has been studied as a way to reduce environmental impacts. In recent years, the most promising options for replacing meat in hybrid products are vegetable (such as peas, chickpeas), fungi (such as mushrooms) and insect (such as cricket species and Tenebrio molitor larvae) proteins. This chapter aims to elucidate the interaction among meat proteins and alternative protein sources and their influence on the nutritional, technological, and sensory properties of different meat matrices.