posted on 2021-09-16, 12:03authored byWenhao Cai, Weijuan Huang, Lingyun Chen
Pea protein has attracted attention
as an alternative for soy protein,
but its weaker gelling properties have limited applications in food
formulations. In this study, heat-induced soluble pea protein aggregates
were prepared in the first step, followed by the heat-induced gelation
of the soluble pea protein aggregates in the presence of a small amount
of κ-carrageenan. The mechanical property measurement indicated
that the complex gel strength can be modulated by modifying the pea
protein aggregate properties to achieve a compressive strength up
to 14.15 kPa. In addition, such strong gels were achieved at a relatively
low concentration of protein (7.5%) and κ-carrageenan (0.5%)
and thus are advantageous for practical applications. The surface
hydrophobicity, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier-transform
infrared spectroscopy characterizations suggest that pea protein particulate
aggregates with hydrophobic patches on the surface can serve as the
active building blocks to establish a homogeneous three-dimensional
network of highly cross-linked structures with small pore size, thus
leading to gels of superior mechanical strength when compared with
gels prepared from pea protein isolate with κ-carrageenan. This
research has provided a novel approach for structuring and texturization
of plant-protein-based foods by using protein aggregates and contributed
to the understanding of mechanism of gel formation from pea protein
aggregates in the presence of κ-carrageenan.