From a Single-Stage to a Two-Stage Countercurrent Extraction of Lipids and Proteins from Full-Fat Chickpea Flour: Maximizing Process Extractability and Economic Feasibility

Abstract

The mainstream adoption of chickpea proteins and lipids requires a thorough understanding of the impact of critical extraction parameters (enzyme use, reaction time, and solids-to-liquid ratio—SLR) and modes of extraction (single-stage extraction—SSE and countercurrent extraction—CCE) on the simultaneous extraction of lipids and proteins from full-fat chickpea flour and economic process feasibility. A kinetics study revealed that 68.5% oil and 87% protein extraction yields can be achieved using 0.5% protease at pH 9.0, 50 °C, 60 min, and 1:10 SLR, highlighting the role of proteolysis and an adequate incubation time on overall extractability. An increased gradient concentration between the matrix and aqueous media solutes at a lower SLR (1:15), and reduced slurry viscosity increased oil and protein extractability to 80 and 91%, respectively. The high-water usage in the SSE was addressed by the development of a two-stage CCE that reduced water usage by 47% while increasing oil and protein extractability to ~96%. Higher extractability and reduced water usage in the two-stage CCE resulted in a higher net gross profit, thus outweighing its higher operating costs. The results presented herein further widen the scope of bioprocessing standards for full-fat chickpea flour and add to the elucidation of the impact of key processing conditions on the extractability and economic feasibility of the production of chickpea ingredients for subsequent food/nutraceutical applications.

Influence of various methods of processing soybeans on protein digestibility and reduction of nitrogen deposits in the natural environment – a review

“…In addition to this, enzymes can also be used to extract soybean oil by adopting the specialized method EAEP. By-product of this method is soybean cotyledon fiber (Machida et al, 2022).…”

Unveiling the contribution of Osborne protein fractions to the physicochemical and functional properties of alkaline and enzymatically extracted green lentil proteins

“…The addition of proteases provides a unique opportunity to not only improve protein extractability through the release of more soluble protein subunits and peptides, but also to concurrently modify protein structure and functionality to increase the value and potential food applications of the final ingredient. Protease‐assisted extraction has been studied for a variety of leguminous crops including chickpeas, black beans, and soy, and has demonstrated to be an efficient and scalable strategy to improve extraction yields and protein solubility (de Moura et al, 2008; Machida, Dias, et al, 2022; Machida, Huang, et al, 2022; Yang et al, 2024). Notably, a Flavourzyme®/Celluclast® mixture (protease and carbohydrase) was employed for the extraction of antioxidative compounds from lentils, but this study did not explore the effects of this enzyme mixture on the proteins per se (Neta & de Castro, 2019).…”