Recent patent applications in beverages enriched with plant proteins

Research Advances in the High-Value Utilization of Peanut Meal Resources and Its Hydrolysates: A Review

Peanut meal (PM) is a by-product of extracting oil from peanut kernels. Although peanut meal contains protein, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and small amounts of polyphenols and fiber, it has long been used as a feed in the poultry and livestock industries due to its coarse texture and unpleasant taste. It is less commonly utilized in the food processing industry. In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research conducted on the deep processing of by-products from oil crops, resulting in the high-value processing and utilization of by-products from various oil crops. These include peanut meal, which undergoes treatments such as enzymatic hydrolysis in industries like food, chemical, and aquaculture. The proteins, lipids, polyphenols, fibers, and other components present in these by-products and hydrolysates can be incorporated into products for further utilization. This review focuses on the research progress in various fields, such as the food processing, breeding, and industrial fields, regarding the high-value utilization of peanut meal and its hydrolysates. The aim is to provide valuable insights and strategies for maximizing the utilization of peanut meal resources.

Trends in functional beverages: Functional ingredients, processing technologies, stability, health benefits, and consumer perspective

The World Health Organization's emphasis on the health benefits of functional foods and beverages that has contributed to the rise in its popularity globally. Besides these consumers have become more aware of the importance of their food composition and nutrition. Among the fastest-growing market segments within the functional food industries, the functional drinks market focuses on fortified beverages or products that are novel with improved bioavailability of bioactive compounds, and their implicated health benefits. The bioactive ingredients in functional beverages include phenolic compounds, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, peptides, unsaturated fatty acids, etc. which can be obtained from plant, animal and microorganisms. The types of functional beverages which are globally intensifying the markets are pre-/pro-biotics, beauty drinks, cognitive and immune system enhancers, energy and sports drink produced via several thermal and non-thermal processes. Researchers are focusing on improving the stability of the active compounds by encapsulation, emulsion, and high-pressure homogenization techniques to strengthen the positive consumer perspective in functional beverages. However, more research is needed in terms of bioavailability, consumer safety, and sustainability of the process. Hence, product development, storage stability, and sensory properties of these products are vital for consumer acceptance. This review focuses on the recent trends and developments in the functional beverages industry. The review provides a critical discussion on diverse functional ingredients, bioactive sources, production processes, emerging process technologies, improvement in the stability of ingredients and bioactive compounds. This review also outlines the global market and consumer perception of functional beverages with the future perspective and scope.

Turning Food Protein Waste into Sustainable Technologies

For each kilogram of food protein wasted, between 15 and 750 kg of CO₂ end up in the atmosphere. With this alarming carbon footprint, food protein waste not only contributes to climate change but also significantly impacts other environmental boundaries, such as nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, global freshwater use, change in land composition, chemical pollution, and biodiversity loss. This contrasts sharply with both the high nutritional value of proteins, as well as their unique chemical and physical versatility, which enable their use in new materials and innovative technologies. In this review, we discuss how food protein waste can be efficiently valorized not only by reintroduction into the food chain supply but also as a template for the development of sustainable technologies by allowing it to exit the food-value chain, thus alleviating some of the most urgent global challenges. We showcase three technologies of immediate significance and environmental impact: biodegradable plastics, water purification, and renewable energy. We discuss, by carefully reviewing the current state of the art, how proteins extracted from food waste can be valorized into key players to facilitate these technologies. We furthermore support analysis of the extant literature by original life cycle assessment (LCA) examples run ad hoc on both plant and animal waste proteins in the context of the technologies considered, and against realistic benchmarks, to quantitatively demonstrate their efficacy and potential. We finally conclude the review with an outlook on how such a comprehensive management of food protein waste is anticipated to transform its carbon footprint from positive to negative and, more generally, have a favorable impact on several other important planetary boundaries.

Green Biomass-Based Protein for Sustainable Feed and Food Supply: An Overview of Current and Future Prospective

It is necessary to develop and deploy novel protein production to allow the establishment of a sustainable supply for both humans and animals, given the ongoing expansion of protein demand to meet the future needs of the increased world population and high living standards. In addition to plant seeds, green biomass from dedicated crops or green agricultural waste is also available as an alternative source to fulfill the protein and nutrient needs of humans and animals. The development of extraction and precipitation methods (such as microwave coagulation) for chloroplast and cytoplasmic proteins, which constitute the bulk of leaf protein, will allow the production of leaf protein concentrates (LPC) and protein isolates (LPI). Obtained LPC serves as a sustainable alternative source of animal-based protein besides being an important source of many vital phytochemicals, including vitamins and substances with nutritional and pharmacological effects. Along with it, the production of LPC, directly or indirectly, supports sustainability and circular economy concepts. However, the quantity and quality of LPC largely depend on several factors, including plant species, extraction and precipitation techniques, harvest time, and growing season. This paper provides an overview of the history of green biomass-derived protein from the early green fodder mill concept by Károly Ereky to the state-of-art of green-based protein utilization. It highlights potential approaches for enhancing LPC production, including dedicated plant species, associated extraction methods, selection of optimal technologies, and best combination approaches for improving leaf protein isolation.

The Current Situation of Pea Protein and Its Application in the Food Industry

Pea (Pisum sativum) is an important source of nutritional components and is rich in protein, starch, and fiber. Pea protein is considered a high-quality protein and a functional ingredient in the global industry due to its low allergenicity, high protein content, availability, affordability, and deriving from a sustainable crop. Moreover, pea protein has excellent functional properties such as solubility, water, and oil holding capacity, emulsion ability, gelation, and viscosity. Therefore, these functional properties make pea protein a promising ingredient in the food industry. Furthermore, several extraction techniques are used to obtain pea protein isolate and concentrate, including dry fractionation, wet fractionation, salt extraction, and mild fractionation methods. Dry fractionation is chemical-free, has no loss of native functionality, no water use, and is cost-effective, but the protein purity is comparatively low compared to wet extraction. Pea protein can be used as a food emulsifier, encapsulating material, a biodegradable natural polymer, and also in cereals, bakery, dairy, and meat products. Therefore, in this review, we detail the key properties related to extraction techniques, chemistry, and structure, functional properties, and modification techniques, along with their suitable application and health attributes.

Speciation of Arsenic(III) and Arsenic(V) in Plant-Based Drinks

Recently, food products based only on plants have become increasingly popular and are often found on store shelves. It is a specific market response to the growing demand for, and interest in, plant foods. Cow's milk has also gained its counterpart in the form of plant-based beverages, based on cereals, nuts or legumes. The emergence of an increasingly wide range of plant-based food products has also led to increased research on safe plant food consumption. This study was conducted to quantify total arsenic content and its species (arsenic(III) and (V)) in samples of plant-based beverages purchased at Polish markets. Speciation analysis of arsenic was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The presented study was conducted on six selected plant-based beverages, including almond, millet, soybean, rice, coconut and oat. An analysis using size exclusion chromatography was performed. In order to initially visualize the content of the observed elements and the particle size of the compounds in which they occur, at first the samples were subjected to the size-exclusion chromatography. Speciation analysis of arsenic was carried out using anion-exchange liquid chromatography, combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The presented method was validated with certified reference material (CRM rice flour).

In Vivo Nutritional Assessment of the Microalga Nannochloropsis gaditana and Evaluation of the Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Capacity of Its Functional Extracts

Nannochloropsis gaditana is a microalga with interesting nutritional and functional value due to its high content of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and bioactive compounds. However, the hardness of its cell wall prevents accessibility to these components. This work aimed to study the effect of a treatment to increase the fragility of the cell wall on the bioavailability of its nutrients and functional compounds. The antioxidant and antiproliferative capacity of functional extracts from treated and untreated N. gaditana was assessed, and the profile of bioactive compounds was characterized. Furthermore, to study the effect of treatment on its nutrient availability and functional capacity, an in vivo experiment was carried out using a rat experimental model and a 20% dietary inclusion level of microalgae. Functional extracts from treated N. gaditana exhibited higher antioxidant activity than the untreated control. Furthermore, the treated microalga induced hypoglycemic action, higher nitrogen digestibility, and increased hepatic antioxidant activity. In conclusion, N. gaditana has interesting hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory potential, thus proving itself an ideal functional food candidate, especially if the microalga is treated to increase the fragility of its cell wall before consumption.

What You Extract Is What You Get: Different Methods of Protein Extraction from Hemp Seeds

Cannabis sativa L. seeds are rich in essential polyunsaturated fatty acids and highly digestible proteins, with a good nutritional value. Proteomics studies on hempseed reported so far have mainly been conducted on processed seeds and, to our knowledge, no optimization of protein extraction from hemp seeds has been performed. This study investigates the SDS-PAGE profile of hempseed proteins comparing different methods of extraction, (Osborne sequential extraction, TCA/acetone, MTBE/methanol, direct protein solubilization of defatted hempseed flour), two conditions to keep low temperature during seed grinding (liquid nitrogen or ice) and two solubilization buffers (urea-based or Laemmli buffer). Among the tested conditions, the combination of liquid nitrogen + TCA/acetone + Laemmli buffer was not compatible with SDS-PAGE of proteins. On the other hand, urea-based buffer achieved more reproducible results if combined with all the other conditions. TCA/acetone, MTBE/methanol, and direct protein solubilization of defatted hempseed flour demonstrated a good overview of protein content, but less abundant proteins were poorly represented. The Osborne sequential separation was helpful in diluting abundant proteins thus enhancing the method sensitivity.