Characterization and Techno-Functional Properties of High Protein Walnut Flour from an Oil by-Product.

A high protein walnut flour (HPWF) was obtained by defatting walnut flour (WF), which is a by-product of the oil industry. The objective of this study was the chemical and techno-functional characterization of HPWF. Composition, amino acid content, protein secondary structure, protein solubility and thermal transitions were measured. Besides, the techno-functional properties, emulsion activity and stability, and water holding and oil absorption capacities, of HPWF were evaluated. Also, the molecular mass of proteins under denaturing conditions and the microstructure of HPWF were evaluated by electrophoresis and confocal scanning laser microscopy, respectively. HPWF had 55.4% protein content and 21.5% total dietary fibre. In terms of HPWF amino acid composition, the limiting amino acids were the sulphurated cysteine and methionine. By FTIR analysis, the main secondary structures were ß-sheet (49%) followed by α-helix (24%); both structures are considered to be ordered. Likewise, HPWF soluble proteins increased at basic pH and HPWF proteins were separated in 11 bands with molecular masses ranging from 97 kDa to 18 kDa by electrophoresis. With respect to techno-functional properties, HPWF presented good emulsion activity (51%) and high thermal emulsion stability (46%). In addition, HPWF retained 571% and 242% of water and oil by weight, respectively. Finally, the micrograph showed the predominance of protein structures and fibre fragments, and the presence of few lipids mostly trapped. These results showed that HPWF is an interesting source of plant-based proteins and walnut flour can be used to obtain high protein ingredients from non-traditional sources.

Pea protein isolate-soluble soybean polysaccharides electrostatic assembly: effect of pH, biopolymer mass ratio and heat treatment.

BACKGROUND: In past years, thousands of protein-polysaccharide complexes have been investigated to modify protein characteristics and functionality in food systems. However, the interaction between pea protein isolate (PPI) and soluble soybean polysaccharide (SSPS) has not been thoroughly characterized yet. RESULTS: In the present study, the phase behavior of PPI and SSPS mixtures was analyzed as a function of PPI:SSPS mixing ratio (1:1 to 1:0.10) and pH (7.0 to 2.0), showing that these biopolymers could be electrostatically assembled at 1:1 to 1:0.25 mixing ratios and 4.0 to 3.0 pH values. Then, the characteristics of the PPI-SSPS complexes were studied before and after heating (90 °C and 30 min) by ζ-potential, surface hydrophobicity, protein solubility, particle size distribution and physical stability for 56 days. By lowering the pH and PPI:SSPS mixing ratio, the complexes showed increased solubility, changed 𝜁-potential and higher physical stability. By heating, the complexes presented increased hydrophobicity and physical stability. CONCLUSION: Overall, PPI-SSPS complexes increased the protein solubility, reduced the particle size, and changed both the ζ-potential and the surface hydrophobicity with respect to PPI control, allowing stabilization of the colloidal system and broadening the possible applications of these high-quality proteins in acidic food systems. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Comparative study of emulsifying properties in acidic condition of soluble polysaccharides fractions obtained from soy hull and defatted soy flour.

The present study compares the emulsifying properties in acidic conditions of hull soluble polysaccharides (HSPS), soybean soluble polysaccharides (SSPS) and its mixtures. These fractions were obtained from byproducts of soybean processing industry (soy hull and residual fiber after isolation of soy cotyledon protein, respectively). Although SSPS is already characterized, HSPS is a novel fraction which has not been studied in deep and it is still unexplored as emulsifier. Dispersions of both fraction and a mixture 50:50 of them at pH 3.0 were used as aqueous phase (1.0-3.0 % w/w) in coarse and fine oil-in-water emulsions (oil mass fraction = 0.3). Its stability was evaluated through the evolution of backscattering profiles (%BS), particle size distribution and mean particle diameters. The rheology of the emulsions was also analyzed. Both fractions provided stability to creaming when increasing the polysaccharide concentration and energy of homogenization. While coarse emulsions were unstable systems, fine emulsions were stable enough and allowed a deeper analysis of the destabilizing processes. A bridging flocculation phenomenon in the presence of HSPS and HSPS/SSPS mixtures is suggested, which influences the creaming and rheological behavior. Also, coalescence index increases according HSPS and HSPS/SSPS concentrations, but particle sizes reached were smaller than in SSPS emulsions. Fine emulsions with 3 % of HSPS/SSPS mixtures yielded the best results on the overall stability at 28 days. So, functional properties of the fractions may improve by the formulation of emulsions consisting in mixtures of them. These results are of interest to the manufacturing of acidic foods, taking advantage of obtaining byproducts from residual materials.