In recent years, owing to the rise in awareness regarding sustainability challenges associated with meat production, the trend of plant protein‐based meat substitutes as the sustainable and healthier alternative is growing. The present work focuses on the extraction of plant proteins from Indian pulses as a first step towards contributing to this trend. Herein, experiments were designed to develop processes for securing pulse protein concentrates from green gram, horse gram, and cowpea via wet methods, namely alkaline extraction, acid extraction precipitation, water extraction precipitation, and micellization precipitation. The proximate composition of the pulses was determined, the protein yield, protein recovery, and protein purity were estimated to assess the suitability of the wet processing methods. The results showed that the alkaline extraction exhibited the highest yield ranging from 13.5% to 18%, the highest protein recovery varied from 58% to 67%, and the highest purity (cowpea protein concentrate ~79%, horse gram protein concentrate ~79%, and green gram protein concentrate ~87%) compared to other methods. The extraction method significantly influenced the yield and recovery, but not the purity. These results indicated that alkaline extraction is preferable for the purification of proteins from the selected pulses.
Novelty impact statement
The protein solubility is more, and co‐precipitation of non‐protein components was significantly less at pH 9.
Alkaline extraction exhibited the highest yield of protein, recovery, and protein purity.
Alkaline extraction is preferable for the purification of proteins from the pulses.
Worldwide, the development of next-generation plant protein-based meat analogues has gained popularity because of plant proteins' reliable, sustainable, functional and nutritional benefits. In this work, we study the functional properties of green gram (GG), horse gram (HG) and cowpea protein concentrates (CPPCs) obtained using the alkaline/isoelectric precipitation method and developed the conventional and plant-based deep-fried meatballs. The results indicated that all protein concentrates exhibited superior functional properties. All protein concentrates exhibited a typical U-shaped solubility curve from pH 2 to 9. Emulsification, foaming and gelling properties were found to correlate well with the protein solubility (PS) profile. The least gelation capacity for GGPC was 15%, while HGPC and CPPC required 20% protein to form a gel. Water absorption capacity (WAC), emulsification properties were significantly different for all protein concentrates, but not oil absorption, foaming and protein solubility. A plant-based deepfried meatball formulated using the ratio of 20:20:20 for GGPC: HGPC: CPPC was found to be closely related to the conventional meatballs in terms of taste, flavour and colour. The oil absorbed in plantbased deep-fried meatballs was ~4% lower than in conventional deep-fried meatballs. This research allowed a more in-depth understanding of the functional characterisation of pulse protein concentrates (PPCs) obtained by alkaline-isoelectric precipitation and their potential use in developing plant proteinbased meatball analogues. In conclusion, Indian pulses could potentially offer sustainable options for plant protein-based meat formulations.
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