Functional Performance of Plant Proteins

Abstract

Increasingly, consumers are moving towards a more plant-based diet. However, some consumers are avoiding common plant proteins such as soy and gluten due to their potential allergenicity. Therefore, alternative protein sources are being explored as functional ingredients in foods, including pea, chickpea, and other legume proteins. The factors affecting the functional performance of plant proteins are outlined, including cultivars, genotypes, extraction and drying methods, protein level, and preparation methods (commercial versus laboratory). Current methods to characterize protein functionality are highlighted, including water and oil holding capacity, protein solubility, emulsifying, foaming, and gelling properties. We propose a series of analytical tests to better predict plant protein performance in foods. Representative applications are discussed to demonstrate how the functional attributes of plant proteins affect the physicochemical properties of plant-based foods. Increasing the protein content of plant protein ingredients enhances their water and oil holding capacity and foaming stability. Industrially produced plant proteins often have lower solubility and worse functionality than laboratory-produced ones due to protein denaturation and aggregation during commercial isolation processes. To better predict the functional performance of plant proteins, it would be useful to use computer modeling approaches, such as quantitative structural activity relationships (QSAR).

Novel Hydrocolloids Obtained from Mango (Mangifera indica) var. Hilaza: Chemical, Physicochemical, Techno-Functional, and Structural Characteristics

“…Hydrocolloids have moisture values between 62.96% and 75.32%, lipid content of 0.63 and 11.15%, protein content of 0.33 and 20.93%, carbohydrates of 2.06 and 23.52%, and ash values less than 1.61%. Similar results were obtained by Cao et al [ 48 ], Renard et al [ 49 ], and Ma et al [ 50 ], who extracted and characterized hydrocolloids from vegetable raw materials, such as camelina gum isolation, acacia gums ( Senegal andseyal ); and Chickpea flour as a functional ingredient in foods. Furthermore, the protein content is higher than flaxseed gum [ 51 ] compared to hydrocolloids extracted from the mango seed.…”

Comparative study of factors affecting the recovery of proteins from malt rootlets using pressurized liquids and ultrasounds

“…Tris-HCl buffer (pH 9.0 and 8.5) yielded the highest protein recovery, while buffers at higher pHs showed lower yields. This result has been observed in other plant proteins such as pea, chickpea, and other legumes ( Ma et al, 2022 ). Extraction yields also depended on the kind of buffer.…”

“…Fifteen buffers covering from pH 5.5 to pH 13.0 were employed. This range was selected taking into account previous authors experience working with plant proteins ( Olivares-Galván et al, 2020 ; Ma et al, 2022 ). In some cases, different buffers with identical pH were used.…”

Quality attributes of chicken nuggets extended with different legume flours

“…So far, soyabean, is the most widely used legume flour extender (Kurek et al 2022;Ma et al 2022), nevertheless, as a result of increased functionality, other legume based flour (Shoaib et al 2018) are becoming increasingly famous as they all have promising nutritional and sensory properties of food products. Thus, along with soyabean, it is important to screen other legume based flour as extenders to chicken nuggets.…”