Protein-Based Fat Replacers: A Focus on Fabrication Methods and Fat-Mimic Mechanisms

Recent advances in the modification of soy proteinase: Enzyme types, structural and functional characteristics, and applications in foods

Soy protein, as the major component of soybean, has important applications in food, medicine and materials. This review summarizes the research progress in the technology of enzymatic modification of soy protein, focusing on the principles and applications of enzymatic hydrolysis and enzymatic cross-linking. Enzymatic modification can modulate the structure and properties of soy protein, providing a theoretical basis for its wide application in the food industry. The functional properties of soy protein are closely related to its structure. Enzyme-modified soy protein can be improved in terms of solubility, emulsification, water and oil retention, and gel properties. The enzyme modification technology is highly specific, safe and mild and provides new ideas for functional improvement of soy protein. However, in practical applications, enzymatic modification still has problems such as poor control of the degree of hydrolysis. Therefore, in the future, the effects of different types of enzymes and modification methods on soy protein, as well as efficient and targeted regulatory mechanisms, can be further explored to make it more widely used in food, medicine and materials.

Impact of high-soluble modified wheat gluten as an emulsifier on the structure and quality of ice cream

In our previous work, wheat gluten (WG) has been modified by pH-shifting treatment combined with heat to improve solubility and emulsibility. In this study, the high-soluble modified wheat gluten (M-WG) as an emulsifier in ice cream was investigated. Compared to monoglycerides (MG) and soy protein isolates (SPI), the ice cream emulsion prepared with M-WG exhibited smaller droplet sizes and a more consistent dispersion. And the M-WG exhibited same emulsifying capabilities as MG and SPI from perspectives of viscosity, storage modulus, and loss modulus of ice cream products. Additionally, the overrun and meltdown rates of ice cream made with M-WG were better than MG and SPI. Furthermore, ice cream made with M-WG exhibited good sensory characteristics (color and hardness). It suggested that the high-soluble M-WG has an excellent potential to be applied in ice cream as an emulsifier, thereby broadening the novel natural alternatives of chemical emulsifiers derived from plant-based proteins.

Heat-induced interactions between microfluidized hemp protein particles and caseins or whey proteins

The rising demand for sustainable proteins leads to increased interest in plant proteins like hemp protein (HP). However, commercial HP's poor functionality, including heat aggregation, limit its use. This study explored the heat-induced interactions of hemp protein particles (HPPs) with milk proteins, specifically whey proteins and caseins. Using various analysis techniques-static light scattering, TEM, SDS electrophoresis, surface hydrophobicity, and free sulfhydryl content-results showed that co-heating HPPs with whey protein isolate (WPI) or sodium caseinate (NaCN) at 95 °C for 20 min reduced HPPs aggregation. HPPs/WPI particles had a d4,3 of ∼3.8 μm, while HPPs/NaCN were ∼1.9 μm, compared to ∼27.5 μm for HPPs alone. SDS-PAGE indicated that whey proteins irreversibly bound to HPPs, through disulfide bonds, whereas casein bound reversibly, possibly involving the chaperone-like property of casein. This study proposes possible mechanisms by which HPPs interact with milk proteins and impact protein aggregation. This may provide opportunities for developing hybrid protein microparticles.

Textural, Color, and Sensory Analysis of Cookies Prepared with Hemp Oil-Based Oleogels

The amount of saturated fat in cookies can be reduced by replacing margarine with oleogel, resulting in healthier products. In this study, the rheological and textural profile of cookies formulated with oleogel as the main margarine substitute was evaluated. Hemp seed vegetable oil was oleogelized with four types of waxes: beeswax (BW), carnauba wax (CW), candelilla wax (DW), rice bran wax (RW), and three oleogeling agents, sitosterol (S), pea protein (PP), and xanthan gum (XG), respectively. The textural and rheological properties of the oleogel dough samples were analyzed using the PertenTVT-6700 texturometer (Perten Instruments, Sweden) and the Haake rheometer. The results showed an increase in the hardness of cookie doughs with oleogels. The values of the elastic component (G') and the viscous component (G″) increased, which means that the oleogels used affected the rheological behavior at 25 °C, causing an increase in the dough consistency. Sensory attributes, texture, and color parameters of cookies with oleogels were determined. The cookies' hardness increased significantly from 4409.83 ± 0.13 g (control sample) to 7085.33 ± 0.15 g in the cookie sample prepared with hemp oil sitosterol oleogel, whereas the sample with candelilla wax had the lowest hardness value of 4048.09 ± 0.14 g. The color of the oleogel cookies was darker than that of the control cookies. The cookie sample with hemp oil and beeswax oleogel was the most appreciated by the evaluators among the oleogel cookie samples. The findings suggest that hemp seed oil oleogel is an effective fat substitute in cookies, promoting the application of this vegetable oil in food products.

Towards healthier low-sugar and low-fat beverages: Design, production, and characterization

Many consumers are adopting low-sugar and low-fat beverages to avoid excessive calories and the negative impact of high trans- and/or saturated fat on health and wellbeing. This article reviews strategies to reduce sugar, fat, and high trans- and/or saturated fat content in beverages while maintaining their desirable physicochemical and sensory attributes. It assesses the impact of various sugar and fat replacers on the aroma, taste, texture, appearance, and nutritional profile of beverages. Combinations of natural sugar replacers and protein or polysaccharide-based fat replacers have shown partial success in mimicking the qualities of sucrose and fat. Future strategies for designing low-sugar and low-fat beverages include developing novel replacers and using odorants to enhance sensory profiles. The article also highlights methods for flavor detection and oral tribology methods, emphasizing their role in development of low-sugar and low-fat beverages. The information presented in this review article is intended to stimulate research into the design of healthier low-sugar and low-fat beverages in the future.

Legumes as an alternative protein source in plant-based foods: Applications, challenges, and strategies

Since animal proteins may pose a threat to the global environment and human health, the development of alternative proteins has become an inevitable trend in the future. Legumes are considered to be one of the most promising sources of sustainable alternative animal proteins. Legume proteins are considered to exhibit excellent processing properties, including emulsification, gelation, and foaming, which have led to their widespread use in the food industry. Moreover, legume proteins are not only taken as substitutes for meat proteins, they also play an essential role in novel plant-based foods (meat, dairy, fermented food, and fat). However, there are few comprehensive overview studies on the application of legume proteins in plant-based foods. Therefore, this review provides a general overview of the main sources, functional properties, and applications in plant-based foods of legume proteins. In addition, challenges to the application of legume proteins in plant-based foods and specific strategies to address these challenges are presented. The review may provide some references for the further application of legume proteins in novel plant-based foods.

Recent trends in design of healthier fat replacers: Type, replacement mechanism, sensory evaluation method and consumer acceptance

In recent years, with the increasing awareness of consumers about the relationship between excessive fat intake and chronic diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc., the demand for low-fat foods has increased year by year. However, a simple reduction of fat content in food will cause changes in physical and chemical properties, physiological properties, and sensory properties of food. Therefore, developing high-quality fat replacers to replace natural fats has become an emerging trend, and it is still a technical challenge to completely simulate the special function of natural fat in low-fat foods. This review aims to provide an overview of development trends of fat replacers, and the different types of fat replacers, the potential fat replacement mechanisms, sensory evaluation methods, and their consumer acceptance are discussed and compared, which may provide a theoretical guidance to produce fat replacers and develop more healthy low-fat products favored by consumers.

Psyllium and okra mucilage as co-carrier wall materials for fenugreek oil encapsulation and its utilization as fat replacers in pan bread and biscuit production

This study aimed to investigate the potential use of okra and psyllium mucilage as co-carrier wall materials with whey protein and gum Arabic polymers for encapsulation of fenugreek oil to mask its undesirable flavor and promote their health benefits. Particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, morphological properties and fatty acid profiles of crude and encapsulated oils were examined using zeta-sizer, SEM and GC-MS techniques. Crude and encapsulated fenugreek oils were added as functional ingredients during production of pan bread and biscuits. The quality characteristics (baking quality, color and organoleptic properties) of bread and biscuits as well as microbiological properties of bred samples were evaluated. Results showed that the forming microcapsules had sphere particles with the size of 5.05 and 31.64 μm for okra and pysillium mucilage, respectively and had smooth continuous surfaces with no holes or fractures. Fatty acids analysis showed that fenugreek oil is superior functional edible oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids. The organoleptic properties of products were improved when fat replaced with encapsulated fenugreek oil with okra or psyllium mucilage. Likewise, encapsulated fenugreek oil showed antimicrobial activity in bread samples during storage period. On contrary, Bread and biscuits incorporated with crude fenugreek oil gained the lowest scores for all organoleptic parameters. Regarding these results, encapsulated fenugreek oil presents good fat alternatives in dough formulations with acceptable technological, sensory and antimicrobial properties. However, further investigations still needed regarding the biological activity of encapsulated fenugreek oil and its utilization as a food supplement in other food products.