Modification of plant proteins for improved functionality: A review

Abstract

The market trend towards plant‐based protein has seen a significant increase in the last decade. This trend has been projected to continue in the coming years because of the strong factors of sustainability and less environmental impact associated with the production of plant‐based protein compared to animal, aside from other beneficial health claims and changes in consumers' dietary lifestyles. In order to meet market demand, there is a need to have plant‐based protein ingredients that rival or have improved quality and functionality compared to the traditional animal protein ingredients they may replace. In this review article, we present a detailed and concise summary of the functionality challenges of some plant protein ingredients with associated physical, chemical, and biological processing techniques (traditional and emerging technologies) that have been attempted to enhance them. We cataloged the differences between several studies that seek to address the functionality challenges of selected plant‐based protein ingredients without overtly commenting on a general technique that addresses the functionality of all plant‐based protein ingredients. Additionally, we elucidated the chemistry behind some of these processing techniques and how they modify the protein structure for improved functionality. Although, many food industries are shifting away from chemical modification of proteins because of the demand for clean label product and the challenge of toxicity associated with scale‐up of this technique, so physical and biological techniques are widely being adopted to produce a functional ingredient such as texturized vegetable proteins, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, clean label protein concentrates, de‐flavored protein isolates, protein flour, and grits.

Plant Proteins for Future Foods: A Roadmap

“…To improve functionality, the plant proteins may be modified. Two recent reviews comprehensively cover this area [8,9]. Akharume and coworkers elegantly describe the general strategy involving physical, chemical, and biological perturbations to the protein structure and conformation to improve or create new functionalities [8].…”

“…Two recent reviews comprehensively cover this area [8,9]. Akharume and coworkers elegantly describe the general strategy involving physical, chemical, and biological perturbations to the protein structure and conformation to improve or create new functionalities [8]. We note the active research in emerging technologies to modify proteins such as cold plasma [84] and various forms of electromagnetic waves/fields [85]; this section covers a few innovative physical, chemical, and biological modifications that could easily be adopted by the food industry.…”

“…Extrusion is a process in which a material is forced to flow, under a variety of conditions of mixing, heating and shearing, through a die designed to form or puff-dry ingredients [101]. The high-temperature short-time (HTST) process conditions of extrusion has an impact on protein functionalities such as solubility, texture, emulsifying and gelation properties [8]. Extrusion processing is particularly used for texturizing plant proteins (e.g., soy protein, pea protein and wheat gluten) to generate high-moisture meat analogues [102,103].…”

“…Transglutaminase and other oxidative enzymes are used to induce the cross-linking of proteins, to improve the textural properties of the proteins by building up the polypeptides into stronger structures [8]. To date, transglutaminase is the only commercially available food-grade cross-linking enzyme, and it has been reported to improve the functional and structural properties of proteins.…”

“…The purpose of this review is not to replicate what has been done, but to inject fresh ideas and to foster new thinking. Readers interested in more detailed discussions about various plant protein topics are referred to prior excellent reviews [4][5][6][7][8][9]. This paper focuses on manipulating plant protein structures during (a) protein extraction, (b) fractionation, and (c) modification.…”