Abstract
Faba bean protein has good functionalities, but it is little used in the food industry. This study identified a challenge from unfavourable starch gelation when utilizing faba bean for producing protein-based emulsion gel foods, and developed processing methods to overcome that. Two types of protein-based emulsion gel foods, namely yogurt and tofu analogue products, were prepared. The processing methods in this study involved steps of thermal pre-treatment of the beans, dehulling, milling, adding plant oil, homogenization, prevention of starch gelation, and inducing protein gelation. Two methods for preventing starch gelation were studied, namely starch removal and hydrolysis. The gel texture, water-holding capacity, and structural properties of the gel products were evaluated. Both starch-gelation prevention methods produced yogurt and tofu analogue products having typical emulsion gel properties. Hydrolysis of starch was favourable for producing the yogurt analogue, because the hydrolysate compounds improved the gel strength and viscosity. Moreover, it utilized the whole flour, meaning all the nutrients from the cotyledon were used and no side-stream was created. In contrast, starch removal was slightly better than hydrolysis for producing the tofu analogue, because the hydrolysate lowered the gel strength and water-holding capacity of the products. It is both possible and ecologically sustainable to utilize whole faba bean flour for making emulsion gel products.
Highlights
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important plant protein source, being rich in protein (29% on a dry weight basis [1]) and is grown in cool climates around the world
With the processes described above, yogurt analogue and tofu analogue were successfully produced from both whole faba bean flour and a starch-free fraction
The flavour of the tofu analogues was bland, while the yogurt analogues were slightly acidic, and both were considered to be palatable by the evaluation panels
Summary
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important plant protein source, being rich in protein (29% on a dry weight basis [1]) and is grown in cool climates around the world. There is a rapidly growing demand for developing more and better plant protein foods in order to reduce the growth in demand for animal protein foods. For this purpose, pulses are an attractive option owing to their high protein content and low need for nitrogen fertilization, and faba bean is a prime candidate. The major fraction of faba bean protein, globulin, has similarities to soy globulin in molecular structure, thermal stability, solubility, emulsification, and gelling [2,3,4,5], suggesting that faba bean protein should be as versatile and functional for food use as soy protein.
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