The number of consumers preferring natural and organic foods to those that involve synthetic chemicals has recently shown dramatic growth. As such, a native isoelectrically precipitated soy protein isolates (SPIs) were prepared from full-fat and defatted flours using amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) lye (pH>12.5) and lemon extract (pH<2.5) as natural food-plant-based chemicals, replacing the conventional synthetic ones (NaOH and HCl, respectively). Functional properties, total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity of the natural SPIs were compared to those of synthetic ones. All the SPI samples qualified to be soy protein isolates with a minimum protein content of 91.21%. The natural SPI showed significant increase in emulsion stability (p≤0.05). While higher values with narrow margins were shown by the synthetic than the natural SPIs in oil absorption (0.66±0.02, 0.50±0.01%, respectively), emulsion capacity (56.53±0.57, 55.50±0.39%), foam stability (11.33±0.61, 10.40±0.40%). No significant difference was observed in water absorption capacity. The DPPH assay showed increased antioxidant activity in the natural SPI although its total polyphenol content was lower. Thus, SPI with functional properties similar to those of conventional ones can be naturally processed using amaranth ash and lemon extracts as alternative chemicals to addressing the fear of consuming synthetic chemical by health-conscious natural and organic food consumers.

Understanding how foaming properties of proteins are affected by factors such as pH, salt concentration and temperature is essential in predicting their performance and utilisation. In this study, the effects of pH and salt concentration were studied on the foaming properties of pumpkin seed protein isolate (PSPI) and PSPI-xanthan (XG)/Arabic (GA) gum blends. The foaming properties of the PSPI-GA/XG blends were also compared with egg white. Foam stability (FS) was significantly affected by pH with PSPI: GA (25:4) and PSPI: XG (25:1) having a significantly higher stability at pH 2 with the lowest foam stability at pH 4. Sodium chloride (0.2-1.0 M) did not significantly affect foaming properties although PSPI: GA (25:4) had the highest FC (89.33 ± 3.24%) and FS (76.83 ± 1.53 min) at 0.2 M sodium chloride concentration. The foaming capacity (FC) of PSPI: GA (25:4) blend (128.00 ± 0.91%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of egg white (74.00 ± 1.33%) but its FS was significantly lower. It was further revealed that the FC of egg white (74.00 ± 1.33%) was comparable to the PSPI:XG (25:1) blend (74.00 ± 1.46%) but the FS for egg white (480.00 ± 2.67 min) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the FS (116.21 ± 0.86 min) of PSPI:XG (25:1). The foaming properties of PSPI and PSPI-xanthan (XG)/Arabic (GA) blends were significantly affected by pH. Optimum foaming properties, PSPI:XG (25:1) and PSPI:GA (25:4) were observed at pH 2 and heat treatment temperature of 80 ºC.