Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #353566
Research Project: Enhancement of Hard Spring Wheat, Durum, and Oat Quality

Location: Cereal Crops Research

Title: Solid dispersion based spray drying improves solubility and mitigate beany flavor of pea protein isolate

Author
item LAN, YANG - North Dakota State University
item XU, MINWEI - North Dakota State University
item Ohm, Jae-Bom
item CHEN, BINGCAN - North Dakota State University
item RAO, JIAJIA - North Dakota State University

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/13/2018
Publication Date: 4/25/2019
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/6236997
Citation: Lan, Y., Xu, M., Ohm, J., Chen, B., Rao, J. 2019. Solid dispersion based spray drying improves solubility and mitigate beany flavor of pea protein isolate. Food Chemistry. 278: 665–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.11.074.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.11.074

Interpretive Summary: Recently, there has been strong interest in adding pea proteins to food as an alternative to animal protein. However, pea proteins function poorly due to their low solubility in acidic solutions, and unpleasant flavors have limited their applications. A technology called solid dispersion-based spray drying processing is a promising method to improve the solubility of poor water-soluble ingredients. Gum arabic and maltodextrins are commonly used for encapsulation of spray dried bioactive compounds or as flavor masking agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of gum arabic and maltodextrin on the solubility and mitigation of the unpleasant flavor of pea protein in solid dispersion based spray drying processing. The results demonstrated that gum arabic and maltodextrin enhanced the solubility of pea protein. Also, gum arabic or maltodextrin mitigated the unpleasant flavors of pea protein by modifying the protein structure during spray drying. The results of this study have provided a better understanding of the role of gum arabic and maltodextrin in functional improvement of pea proteins via solid dispersion based spray drying processing, which can further facilitate the application of pea protein in food and beverages.

Technical Abstract: Recently, there is a strong interest in incorporation of pea protein as a preferred alternative animal protein into protein fortified food. However, poor functionality of pea proteins such as low acidic solubility and beany flavor limited their application. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of amorphous matrix carriers, i.e., gum arabic (GA) and maltodextrin (MD), on the solubility and beany flavor mitigation of pea protein isolate (PPI) via solid dispersion based spray drying processing. The deference of GA and MD and PPI to carrier ratios (90:10-60:40) on physical properties and functionalities of PPI was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray Diffraction. The results demonstrated the possible mechanism for enhancing solubility through increased surface area/volume ratio, hydrogen bonding, and selective electrostatic interaction between PPI and GA/MD. Meanwhile, beany flavors were mitigated through the unfolding of secondary protein structure by forming solid dispersion with GA or MD during spray drying. The findings could provide useful information to expand the application of PPI in food.