Effect of Xanthan and Arabic Gums on Foaming Properties of Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) Seed Protein Isolate

Quirino Dawa,Yufei Hua,Kingsley George Masamba,Moses Vernonxious Madalitso Chamba,Caimeng Zhang

doi:10.5539/jfr.v3n1p87

Quirino Dawa, Yufei Hua + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v3n1p87

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Abstract

Understanding how foaming properties of proteins are affected by factors such as pH, salt concentration and temperature is essential in predicting their performance and utilisation. In this study, the effects of pH and salt concentration were studied on the foaming properties of pumpkin seed protein isolate (PSPI) and PSPI- xanthan (XG)/Arabic (GA) gum blends. The foaming properties of the PSPI-GA/XG blends were also compared with egg white. Foam stability (FS) was significantly affected by pH with PSPI: GA (25:4) and PSPI: XG (25:1) having a significantly higher stability at pH 2 with the lowest foam stability at pH 4. Sodium chloride (0.2-1.0 M) did not significantly affect foaming properties although PSPI: GA (25:4) had the highest FC (89.33 ± 3.24%) and FS (76.83 ± 1.53 min) at 0.2 M sodium chloride concentration. The foaming capacity (FC) of PSPI: GA (25:4) blend (128.00 ± 0.91%) was significantly higher (p &lt; 0.05) than that of egg white (74.00 ± 1.33%) but its FS was significantly lower. It was further revealed that the FC of egg white (74.00 ± 1.33%) was comparable to the PSPI:XG (25:1) blend (74.00 ± 1.46%) but the FS for egg white (480.00 ± 2.67 min) was significantly higher (p &lt; 0.05) than the FS (116.21 ± 0.86 min) of PSPI:XG (25:1). The foaming properties of PSPI and PSPI-xanthan (XG)/Arabic (GA) blends were significantly affected by pH. Optimum foaming properties, PSPI:XG (25:1) and PSPI:GA (25:4) were observed at pH 2 and heat treatment temperature of 80 ºC.

Highlights

The use of non animal protein sources has progressively increased especially for underprivileged low resource populations in the world primarily due to the high cost of animal protein sources which the majority of the population cannot afford
The results show that pumpkin seed protein isolate (PSPI):XG (25:1) and PSPI:GA (25:4) blends have better foaming capacity and foam stability compared to the other blends
Due to the poly electrolyte nature of xanthan and Arabic gums (Makri & Doxastakis, 2006; Garcıa-Ochoa, Santos, Casas, & Gómez, 2000), the flexible film networks formed by the PSPI- XG/GA interactions around the bubbles in the solution could have been negatively affected by the addition of sodium chloride and may have contributed further to the repulsive forces resulting in reduced foaming properties

Summary

Introduction

The use of non animal protein sources has progressively increased especially for underprivileged low resource populations in the world primarily due to the high cost of animal protein sources which the majority of the population cannot afford. Plant proteins are used as ingredients because of specific functional properties that they possess, soy bean protein has been the most used plant protein, leaving out other plant proteins that could alternatively be used (Atuonwu & Akobundu, 2010). Pumpkins (Cucurbita sp) seeds are one of the many other plant protein sources that have shown a potential to be used as an ingredients in food systems as a nutrient and a functional agent (El-Adawy & Taha, 2001; El-Soukkary, 2001). Pumpkin seeds have been found to contain considerable amounts of proteins. Their products namely isolate, concentrate and flour have demonstrated functional characteristics such as foaming and emulsification that could be of great use in food systems (Atuonwu & Akobundu, 2010)

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