Ground meat replicas

Abstract

This document relates to ground meat replicas, and more particularly to plant-based products that mimic ground meat, including the fibrousness, heterogeneity in texture, beefy flavor, and red-to-brown color transition during cooking of ground meat.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A recombinant yeast cell comprising:
 eight genes encoding eight recombinant heme biosynthesis enzymes, wherein the eight recombinant heme biosynthesis enzymes are a yeast ALA synthase, a yeast ALA dehydratase, a yeast porphobilinogen deaminase, a yeast uroporphyrinogen III synthase, a yeast uroporphyrinogen III decarboxylase, a yeast coproporphyrinogen oxidase, a yeast protoporphyrinogen III oxidase, and a yeast ferrochelatase; and   a nucleic acid encoding a recombinant heme-containing protein, wherein the recombinant heme-containing protein is a globin.   
     
     
         3 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the eight genes and/or the recombinant heme-containing protein is expressed by a methanol inducible promoter. 
     
     
         4 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 3 , wherein the methanol inducible promoter is pAOX1. 
     
     
         5 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 2 , wherein the heme-containing protein is a mammalian myoglobin. 
     
     
         6 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 2 , wherein the heme-containing protein is a leghemoglobin. 
     
     
         7 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 2 , wherein the heme-containing protein is a  Glycine max  leghemoglobin. 
     
     
         8 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 2 , which is a recombinant  Pichia pastoris  yeast cell. 
     
     
         9 . The recombinant yeast cell of  claim 2 , wherein the eight genes encoding eight recombinant heme biosynthesis enzymes are stably integrated into the recombinant yeast cell. 
     
     
         10 . A method of producing a consumable heme-containing protein, the method comprising:
 fermenting the recombinant yeast cell of  claim 3  in a fermentation broth, and inducing expression of the recombinant heme-containing protein with methanol.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising centrifuging the recombinant yeast cell expressing the recombinant heme-containing protein. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising lysing the recombinant yeast cell expressing the recombinant heme-containing protein to produce a cell lysate. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising filtering the cell lysate to produce a soluble lysate. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , comprising concentrating the recombinant heme-containing protein in the soluble lysate. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising centrifuging the recombinant yeast cell expressing the recombinant heme-containing protein, lysing cells of the recombinant yeast cell expressing the recombinant heme-containing protein to produce a cell lysate, filtering the cell lysate to produce a soluble lysate, and concentrating the recombinant heme-containing protein in the soluble lysate. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the recombinant heme-containing protein is a mammalian myoglobin. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the recombinant heme-containing protein is a leghemoglobin. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the recombinant heme-containing protein is a  Glycine max  leghemoglobin. 
     
     
         19 . A method for preparing a food additive comprising a recombinant heme-containing protein, the method comprising:
 providing a recombinant yeast cell comprising:
 eight genes encoding eight recombinant heme biosynthesis enzymes; and 
 a gene encoding the recombinant heme-containing protein under the control of a methanol inducible promoter, 
 wherein the eight recombinant heme biosynthesis enzymes are a yeast ALA synthase, a yeast ALA dehydratase, a yeast porphobilinogen deaminase, a yeast uroporphyrinogen III synthase, a yeast uroporphyrinogen III decarboxylase, a yeast coproporphyrinogen oxidase, a yeast protoporphyrinogen III oxidase, and a yeast ferrochelatase, and wherein the recombinant heme-containing protein is a globin; 
   fermenting the recombinant yeast cell in a fermentation broth;   inducing expression of the recombinant heme-containing protein with methanol;   purifying the recombinant heme-containing protein; and   combining the purified recombinant heme-containing protein with a buffered solution.