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Nature Research, npj Science of Food, 1(7), 2023

DOI: 10.1038/s41538-023-00227-w

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How animal milk and plant-based alternatives diverge in terms of fatty acid, amino acid, and mineral composition

Journal article published in 2023 by S. S. Moore ORCID, A. Costa ORCID, M. Pozza, T. Vamerali ORCID, G. Niero ORCID, S. Censi ORCID, M. De Marchi
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

AbstractThe decline in fresh milk in the Western world has in part been substituted by an increased consumption of plant-based beverages (PBB). These are often marketed as healthy and sustainable alternatives to milk and dairy foodstuff, although studies have suggested PBB to be of lower nutrient quality. The current study considered different brands of almond-, oat-, rice-, coconut- and soya-based beverages for a comparative analysis and found that they indeed presented lower contents of total protein, lipids, amino acids, and minerals than cow and goat milk. The only exception was given by soya-based beverages which approximated the protein content (3.47% vs. 3.42 and 3.25% in cow and goat milk, respectively) and amino acid composition of animal milk, and also demonstrated high mineral content. The natural presence of phyto-compounds in PBB characterised as antinutrients and their potential to exacerbate the issue of low nutrient quality by lowering bioavailability have been discussed.