Designing smarter vegan meals with high protein quality: introducing the Vegan Protein Quality (VPQ) tool

Abstract Plant foods generally supply lower quantities of digestible indispensable amino acids (IAAs) relative to the metabolic requirements. Protein quality can therefore be compromised in vegan diets. Targeted complementation of diverse plant foods in optimal proportions can overcome different limiting IAAs in vegan meals. Four-day food diaries from 193 New Zealand vegans were assessed for protein quality. Meals with a Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS) < 100 % (n = 3623) were targeted for improvements in protein quality using a systematic pairwise matching procedure. Meal pairs attaining DIAAS of ≥ 100% were incorporated into the Vegan Protein Quality (VPQ) tool, an interactive application that optimises food quantities to match each user’s energy, total protein and IAA requirements, tailored to user preferences. The pairwise matching approach improved the amino acid profile of > 99% of meals to a DIAAS of at least 75%, with 41% of meals achieving a DIAAS of ≥ 100%. Test scenarios in the VPQ tool demonstrated the ability of the application in optimising meals to fulfil individual requirements, within serving size constraints. The collective findings provide novel empirical evidence that vegan meals can achieve high protein quality when appropriately planned.