Wet-milled chickpea coproduct as an alternative to obtain protein isolates

Abstract

This study evaluated the use of the wet-milled protein-rich chickpea coproduct to produce chickpea protein isolates following a short downstream process. The chemical and molecular composition, functionality and protein quality of the wet-milled protein isolates (WMPI) were determined and compared to a protein isolate produced by the isoelectric precipitation method (IPPI). WMPI had higher protein purity, lower fat content and higher fat absorption capacity compared to IPPI. The isolate and protein solubilities and emulsifying and foaming capacities were not affected by the wet-milling process but water holding capacity and foaming stability were diminished. The WMPI had comparatively slightly reduced in vitro protein digestibility and protein digestibility corrected amino acid score due to lower sulfur-containing amino acid content. SDS-PAGE indicated loss of protein fractions due to wet-milling but secondary structures were not affected according to ATR-FTIR spectra. The chickpea wet-milling protein coproduct was an adequate feedstock to obtain functional and value-added protein isolates.