Improvement of cereal‐ and legume‐derived protein quality with selenium and sulfur for plant food production

Abstract

Selenium (Se) is essential for human and animal health and nutritional status. As humans cannot produce Se, it must be obtained from the diet. Adequate Se supplementation improves innate immunity, increases antioxidant capacity and helps prevent various disorders. Sulfur (S) is an indispensable nutrient that affects plant growth, performance and yield. Cereals and legumes are global staple foods, and their proteins are considered sustainable plant‐based meat alternatives, which are increasingly popular. Owing to their physicochemical similarities, the crosstalk between Se and S influences cereal and grain‐legume derived proteins. Modifications induced by Se and S might improve the protein quality of harvested cereal and legume grains. This timely review not only identifies the knowledge gaps in this research area focusing on Se and S enrichment in cereals and legumes but also emphasizes the potential of this unexplored area for new applications. S enrichment resulted in better quality properties in the bread of wheat flour and stimulated the expression of S‐rich globulins and albumins in legumes. Se supplementation enhanced the emulsifying capacity of legumes (e.g. chickpeas). The improvement of protein fractions in cereal and legume grains has the potential to revolutionize protein processing to offer new alternatives to produce an array of S‐ and Se‐enriched cereal and legume products. © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.