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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #403784
Research Project: New Sustainable Processes, Preservation Technologies, and Product Concepts for Specialty Crops and Their Co-Products

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Maillard reaction between high-intensity ultrasound pre-treated pea protein isolate and glucose: Impact of reaction time and pH on the conjugation process and the properties of conjugates

Author
item GAO, KUN - North Dakota State University
item Xu, Yixiang
item RAO, JIAJIA - North Dakota State University
item CHEN, BINGCAN - North Dakota State University

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/12/2023
Publication Date: 9/14/2023
Citation: Gao, K., Xu, Y., Rao, J., Chen, B. 2023. Maillard reaction between high-intensity ultrasound pre-treated pea protein isolate and glucose: Impact of reaction time and pH on the conjugation process and the properties of conjugates. Food Chemistry. 434. Article 137486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137486.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137486

Interpretive Summary: Pea protein isolate (PPI) has become one of the most popular plant proteins, vastly exceeding market expectations. However, low water solubility has greatly limited broad PPI use in various food systems. The Maillard reaction (MR) occurs between PPI and glucose naturally in the cooking process and is a practical method to improve the functional properties of the protein. High intensity ultrasound (HIUS), an efficient and environmentally friendly technique to modify protein structure and functionality, has been found to accelerate MR. In this study, HIUS was applied as a PPI pretreatment, followed by wet heating Maillard reaction. The effect of varying pH and heating time on the MR between ultrasound pre-treated PPI and glucose were determined and compared with the same results using untreated PPI. Structure and functional properties of the glycated PPI were also determined. The results showed that HIUS pretreatment was able to change the secondary and tertiary structure of PPI. Solubility of PPI was improved after MR. This study suggests that HIUS pretreatment is an effective method to improve the solubility of PPI regardless of the subsequent Maillard reaction.

Technical Abstract: High intensity ultrasound (HIUS), an efficient technique to modify protein functionality, has been found to accelerate the Maillard reaction (MR). In this study, pea protein isolate (PPI) was pretreated with HIUS at 300 W for 5 min. The MR between the pretreated sample (UPPI) and glucose were performed by heating (80 °C) of the aqueous dispersion at various time (0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h) and pH (6.0, 8.0, 10.0, and 12.0). Conjugation behaviors of UPPI were compared with that of untreated PPI. Results showed that the conjugation between UPPI and glucose through MR was not markedly accelerated and enhanced in terms of browning index and glucose consumption when compared to that of PPI. SDS-PAGE, FTIR as well as intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy showed that HIUS pretreatment was able to change the secondary and tertiary structure of PPI. HIUS pretreatment coupled with MR increased H0 and particle size of UPPI-glucose conjugates. Solubility of both UPPI and PPI was improved after MR. The solubility increment of UPPI-glucose conjugates was lower than that of PPI-glucose conjugates. This study suggests that HIUS pretreatment is an effective method to improve the solubility of PPI regardless of the subsequent Maillard reaction.