Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P5, Canada.
Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P5, Canada; College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Food Res Int. 2022 Apr;154:111028. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111028. Epub 2022 Feb 17.
Pea proteins are increasingly used as an alternative for soy protein, however, structuring of pea protein remains a challenge due to its low gelling capacity. This study reports a pea protein pre-treatment that combines atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) and pH-shifting to improve pea protein gelling property. Specifically, the pea protein concentrate was treated by ACP at pH 12 for 10 min, followed by pH-shifting to neutral and spray-drying to prepare PPC powders. Although, pea protein concentrate did not form a self-standing gel until 95 °C for 60 min, PPC suspension (14 wt%) formed gels with good mechanical properties (compressive strength: 2.81 kPa) by heating at 70 °C within 10-20 min. The strength of the gel made from PPC was further increased to 3.70 and 5.53 kPa when raising the temperature to 80 and 90 °C, respectively. The protein characterizations revealed that the combined ACP and pH-shifting treatment partially unfolded pea protein by altering the tertiary structure, and then the active species produced by ACP facilitated the formation of protein aggregates with increased surface hydrophobicity. During heating, the aggregates served as active building blocks to form more ordered three-dimensional gel networks via hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. The greatly increased gel strength and the powder form will allow pea protein to be widely used as a gelling ingredient in many food formulations. The capacity to form gels at a reduced temperature than pea protein denaturation temperature (∼95 °C) will enable food texture development by conventional cooking.
豌豆蛋白作为大豆蛋白的替代品被越来越多地使用，然而，由于其凝胶能力低，豌豆蛋白的结构仍然是一个挑战。本研究报告了一种豌豆蛋白预处理方法，该方法结合了大气压冷等离子体（ACP）和 pH 值转换，以改善豌豆蛋白的凝胶性能。具体来说，将豌豆蛋白浓缩物在 pH 值为 12 的条件下用 ACP 处理 10 分钟，然后将 pH 值调至中性并喷雾干燥，以制备 PPC 粉末。尽管豌豆蛋白浓缩物在 95°C 下加热 60 分钟才形成自立凝胶，但 PPC 悬浮液（14wt%）在 70°C 下加热 10-20 分钟即可形成具有良好机械性能的凝胶（压缩强度：2.81kPa）。当温度升高到 80 和 90°C 时，由 PPC 制成的凝胶的强度进一步增加到 3.70 和 5.53kPa。蛋白质特性分析表明，ACP 和 pH 值转换的联合处理部分通过改变三级结构使豌豆蛋白展开，然后 ACP 产生的活性物质促进了具有增加表面疏水性的蛋白质聚集体的形成。在加热过程中，这些聚集体作为活性构建块，通过疏水相互作用和氢键形成更有序的三维凝胶网络。凝胶强度的显著增加和粉末形式将使豌豆蛋白能够广泛用作许多食品配方中的凝胶成分。在低于豌豆蛋白变性温度（约 95°C）的温度下形成凝胶的能力将使通过传统烹饪开发食品质地成为可能。
