High-pressure homogenization treatment on yeast protein: Effect on structure and emulsifying properties.

Yeast protein (YP) is an innovative alternative protein with significant nutritional value, yet it has been underutilized due to structural restrictions and poor functionality. To expand its' application in food industry, we investigated how different homogenization pressures affect its physicochemical and emulsifying properties. High-pressure homogenization (HPH) greatly enhanced the emulsifying properties, especially at 60 MPa with increased emulsifying activity and stability indices by 53.88 % and 52.26 %, respectively. Additionally, emulsions prepared with modified YPs exhibited smaller particle sizes, higher zeta potentials, more uniform droplet sizes, and improved stability. HPH also exposed hydrophobic and sulfhydryl groups on YP surface, increasing surface hydrophobicity while decreasing total sulfhydryl content. The process significantly increased β-sheet content, leading to looser and more disordered protein microstructure. The zeta potential of the protein solution was raised and the protein particle size decreased by HPH. To sum up, HPH is an effective method for enhancing the emulsifying properties of yeast proteins, which in turn will promote the broad application in various food products, such as creams and ice creams.