346: Plant Protein Polypeptides as Novel Fat Texturizers: Bioprocessing, Functionality, Molecular Mechanism, and Food Application

Introduction

There is a growing consumer demand for healthier low-fat or non-fat food products. Fat plays a crucial role in contributing to food texture and mouthfeel, and its removal often results in a loss of quality and consumer acceptability. Thus, developing effective fat replacers is essential to compensate for the loss of fat-related properties and enhance the acceptability of a low-fat or non-fat products. Amphiphilic polypeptides refer to proteins with about 10 to 50 amino acids containing well-balanced hydrophilic (water-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repelling) regions, and they hypothetically can act as fats. Enzymatic hydrolysis processes, such as the specificity of used proteases and moderate hydrolysis conditions, would lead to the production of amphiphilic polypeptides.

Methods

We used proteases, alcalase versus trypsin, to produce amphiphilic polypeptides from pulse crop proteins. The functionality of produced amphiphilic polypeptides in aqueous phases and oil-based phases were explained. The molecular mechanisms of the polypeptides amphiphilicity based on peptide sequences and molecular dynamics simulations in aqueous and non-aqueous phases were identified. Selected polypeptides were incorporated into non-fat milk to form yogurt gels, and their rheological properties were compared to unfortified non-fat and whole milk yogurts.

Results

Enzymatic hydrolysis successfully generated plant protein polypeptides that have excellent amphiphilicity and functionality. Their molecular mechanisms as fat texturizers were elucidated using bioinformatics tools. Rheological analysis suggested that polypeptide-fortified yogurts exhibited enhanced gel strength compared to unfortified non-fat yogurts and achieved textural characteristics comparable to whole milk yogurts.

Significance

This demonstrates the potential of lentil polypeptides, expanding the research on plant-based functional ingredients and offering a novel approach to fat replacement. It addresses the textural challenges in non-fat food products and aligns with consumer preferences for clean-label, plant-based ingredients. Future research in this area could lead to the development of healthier, plant-based fat alternatives across various food applications.

Authors: Ishita Ghosh, Saisai Ding, Federico Harte, Yi Zhang