Impact of processing on the biochemical composition of plant-based foods published in Nature Food!
Our research studying the impact of various processing techniques on the biochemical composition of plant-based foods was recently published in Nature Food. We conducted a non-targeted metabolomics analysis on a variety of plant-based protein-rich foods (PBPR) made using different raw materials and processing techniques, along with a few animal-based products. Additionally, we used existing food processing classification systems (NOVA and Poti et al.) to categorize these foods based on their degree of processing.
When focusing on soy-based products and isoflavonoids as an example, we were able to show that some processing techniques such as protein extraction can diminish the phytochemical abundances. On the other hand, fermentation increased the abundances of the more bioavailable forms of these compounds. Furthermore, we demonstrated that existing food processing classification systems can be misleading when applied to plant-based foods as products with notably different biochemical compositions can fall under the ultra-processed category.
As conclusions, we hope that our work will contribute to the needed renewal of the food processing classification systems, taking into account the impact of processing on the complete biochemical composition of the food.
Read the full open access article here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01148-5
And the invited Research Briefing article summarizing the main findings can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01178-z