Valorization of ultrasound assisted restructured soy protein: Impact on the quality characteristics of instant noodles

A Comprehensive Review on Harnessing Soy Proteins in the Manufacture of Healthy Foods through Extrusion

The global development of livestock production systems, accelerated by the growing demand for animal products, has greatly contributed to land-use change, greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution of the local environment. Further, excessive consumption of animal products has been linked with cardiovascular diseases, digestive system diseases, diabetes, and cancer. On the other hand, snacks, pasta, and bread available on the market are made from wheat, fat, salt, and sugar, which contribute to the risk of cardiovascular diseases. To counter these issues, a range of plant protein-based food products have been developed using different processing techniques, such as extrusion. Given the easy scalability, low cost of extrusion technology, and health benefits of soy proteins, this review focuses on the extrusion of soy protein and the potential application of soy protein-based extrudates in the manufacture of healthy, nutritious, and sustainable meat analogs, snacks, pasta products, and breakfast cereals. This review discusses the addition of soy protein to reformulate hypercaloric foods through extrusion technology. It also explores physical and chemical changes of soy proteins/soy protein blends during low and high moisture extrusion. Hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, and hydrophobic interactions influence the properties of the extrudates. Adding soy protein to snacks, pasta, breakfast cereals, and meat analogs affects their nutritional value, physicochemical properties, and sensory characteristics. The use of soy proteins in the production of low-calorie food could be an excellent opportunity for the future development of the soybean processing industry.

Synergistic Effects of High-Intensity Ultrasound Combined with L-Lysine for the Treatment of Porcine Myofibrillar Protein Regarding Solubility and Flavour Adsorption Capacity

This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effects of high-intensity ultrasound (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min) in combination with L-lysine (15 mM) on improving the solubility and flavour adsorption capacity of myofibrillar proteins (MPs) in low-ion-strength media. The results revealed that the ultrasound treatment for 20 min or the addition of L-lysine (15 mM) significantly improved protein solubility (p < 0.05), with L-lysine (15 mM) showing a more pronounced effect (p < 0.05). The combination of ultrasound treatment and L-lysine further increased solubility, and the MPs treated with ultrasound at 20 min exhibited the best dispersion stability in water, which corresponded to the lowest turbidity, highest absolute zeta potential value, and thermal stability (p < 0.05). Based on the reactive and total sulfhydryl contents, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy analysis, the ultrasound treatment combined with L-lysine (15 mM) promoted the unfolding and depolymerization of MPs, resulting in a larger exposure of SH groups on the surface, aromatic amino acids in a polar environment, and a transition of protein conformation from α-helix to β-turn. Moreover, the combined treatment also increased the hydrophobic bonding sites, hydrogen-bonding sites, and electrostatic effects, thereby enhancing the adsorption capacity of MPs to bind kenone compounds. The findings from this study provide a theoretical basis for the production and flavour improvement of low-salt MP beverages and the utilisation of meat protein.

Ultrasound-modified whey protein-enriched instant noodles: Enhancement in functional, rheological, cooking, and structural attributes

Instant noodles enriched with ultrasound-modified whey protein (WP) were characterized for physical, technological, rheological, cooking, thermal, in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD), morphological, and sensory attributes to access the compatibility of ultrasound for actual food matrix. Semolina with sonicated WP (SWP) showed significantly (p < .05) higher water absorption capacity (1.586 g/g) than semolina with raw WP (1.512 g/g). Semolina with SWP also showed a significantly higher water solubility index, oil binding, and firmer gel, even at 5% concentration. The addition of SWP positively impacted pasting properties and improved dough handling, as also supported by the constantly increasing storage (G') and loss (G″) modulus. SWP significantly decreased the cooking loss (7.48%) and considerably increased cooking weight (13.80%), water uptake ratio (14.35%), noodle diameter, expansion (4.47%), hardness, springiness, gumminess, and chewiness of instant noodles. Thus, the instant noodles containing SWP imparted high resistance to tear and wear to noodle strands. The improved thermal, IVPD (90.46%), and acceptability with excellent structural (morphology) integrity authenticate SWP as a quality protein source for enrichment.

Effect of soy protein hydrolysates incorporation on dough rheology, protein characteristic, noodle quality, and their correlations

Soy protein hydrolysates (SPHs) have bioactive and nutritional functions that can be used as fortifier of noodles. The objective of this study is to explore the effect of SPHs on dough rheology and noodle quality. Two kinds of SPHs, with a hydrolysis degree of 4.43% (SPH4) and 7.47% (SPH7), were added to wheat flour at a ratio of 5:95 to make dough and noodles. The addition of SPHs decreased the gluten yield, gluten index, peak viscosity, final viscosity, and setback of flour paste. Dough stability decreased, but the extensibility increased because of the addition of SPHs. SPHs decreased the high molecular weight glutenin subunits and SDS-unextractable polymeric protein proportion, and the results of scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy also showed that the gluten network in SPH7 dough was more discontinuous than that in SPH4, suggesting a stronger negative effect of SPH7 on the formation of the gluten network compared to that of SPH4. The incorporation of SPHs decreased the hardness and springiness of cooked noodles but increased their cooking loss, protein loss, and water absorption. The correlation analysis showed that high molecular weight subunits and SDS-unextractable polymeric protein in SPH-fortified dough were positively correlated with the hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, resilience, force, and distance at break of noodles, and these texture properties of noodles were positively correlated with pasting, gluten, and farinographical properties of SPH-fortified flour. These results suggested that SPHs could improve some qualities of noodles, such as smoothness and cooking yield, and resist pasted starch aging. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Soy protein hydrolysates have many bioactive functions. This study demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating soy protein hydrolysates into wheat flour to prepare noodles. The addition of soy protein hydrolysates gives noodles smoother mouthfeel and increases the cooking yield. The addition of soy protein hydrolysates decreases the setback value of flour paste, suggesting that soy protein hydrolysates may help to resist starch aging, which is favorable for starch-containing foods such as precooked noodles. Thus, soy protein hydrolysates possess potential applications in noodle products.