Enzymatic degradation of pea fibers changes pea protein concentrate functionality

Pea proteins are gaining increased interest from both the food industry as well as from consumers. Pea protein isolates (PPI) excel at forming meat-like textures upon heating while pea protein concentrates (PPC) are more challenging to transform into highly sought-after foods. PPCs are richer in dietary fibers (DF) and are more sustainable to produce than PPI. In this work, degradative enzymes were used to modify the functionality of PPC-water blends with a focus on texturization upon heating. Three enzyme solutions containing β-glucanases, hemicellulases, pectinases, xylanase, and cellulases were added to 65 wt% PPC blends. The effect of these enzymatic pretreatments was measured by monitoring the torque in a mixing reactor during blending, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), high-pressure shear rheology (HPSR), and DF content and size analysis. Four endothermic peaks were detected in the DSC thermograms of PPC, namely at 63 °C, 77 °C, 105 °C and 123 °C. The first three peaks were attributed to phase transition and gelation temperatures of the starches and proteins constituting PPC. No endothermic peaks were measured for PPI blends. Enzyme solutions containing β-glucanases, hemicellulases, pectinases, and xylanases increased the endothermic energy of all peaks, hinting at an effect on the gelation properties of PPC. The same enzymes decreased the resistance to flow of PPC blends and induced a shift of the weight average molecular weight (Mw) distribution of soluble dietary fibers (SDF) towards smaller values while increasing the fraction of SDF by decreasing the insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) content. The solution containing cellulases did not change the DSC results or the viscosity of the PPC mixture, nor did it affect the IDF and SDF contents. On the other hand HPSR measurements of heated PPC samples up to 125 °C showed that all tested enzyme solutions decreased the complex viscosity of PPC-water blends to values similar to PPI-water blends. We demonstrated that degradative enzymes can enhance the functionality of less refined protein-rich ingredients based on pea and other vegetal sources. Using optimized enzyme blends for targeted applications can prove to be a key changer in the development and improvement of sustainable protein-rich foods.