Burger Travis G, Singh Indarpal, Mayfield Caleb, Baumert Joseph L, Zhang Yue
Conagra Brands, Inc., Omaha, NE, USA.
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
J Sci Food Agric. 2022 Apr;102(6):2506-2514. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.11592. Epub 2021 Nov 6.
There is an increasing trend in the food industry to utilize plant-based proteins. Pea protein (PP) is one such protein that is a promising alternative emulsifier. However, there is a significant functionality gap between laboratory and commercially produced PP that limits its usage. The physicochemical and emulsification properties of five commercial PP powders were characterized to better understand the functionality gap.
Four of the five commercial powders displayed low solubility, high surface hydrophobicity, and an abundance of large insoluble aggregates. High-pressure homogenization was able to break up the aggregates, reduce surface hydrophobicity, and increase solubility. There was a significant correlation between the homogenized solubility and the emulsification properties of the commercial PPs. There was not a significant correlation between the emulsification properties and the other physicochemical properties (unhomogenized solubility, zeta potential, surface hydrophobicity, and interfacial tension).
The conformational changes caused by the commercial isolation process may disrupt the correlations between the physicochemical and emulsification properties of PP. Solubility is a key physicochemical property to enable good emulsification properties for PP. Homogenization is an effective step to improve the solubility of commercial PP and therefore promote its functional properties before industrial usage. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
食品工业中利用植物蛋白的趋势日益增加。豌豆蛋白（PP）就是这样一种有望成为替代乳化剂的蛋白质。然而，实验室生产的PP和商业生产的PP之间存在显著的功能差距，这限制了其应用。对五种商业PP粉末的物理化学和乳化特性进行了表征，以更好地理解这种功能差距。
五种商业粉末中的四种表现出低溶解度、高表面疏水性和大量大的不溶性聚集体。高压均质能够分解聚集体，降低表面疏水性并提高溶解度。商业PP的均质化溶解度与乳化特性之间存在显著相关性。乳化特性与其他物理化学性质（未均质化的溶解度、zeta电位、表面疏水性和界面张力）之间不存在显著相关性。
商业分离过程引起的构象变化可能会破坏PP物理化学性质与乳化特性之间的相关性。溶解度是使PP具有良好乳化特性的关键物理化学性质。均质化是提高商业PP溶解度从而在工业应用前促进其功能特性的有效步骤。© 2021化学工业协会。
