Ultrasound treatment on commercial pea protein isolates systems: Effect on structure, rheology and gelling properties

Pea protein has attracted great attention due to its capability to meet the growing requirements from consumers for desired nutrition and texture from plant protein. Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the effects of different ultrasonic treatment parameters (power and duration) on the gelling characteristics of commercial pea protein isolates (PPIc). The findings demonstrated that by manipulating the ultrasonic power and treatment duration, great enhancement of the solubility, adhesiveness and formation strength of PPIc gel can be realized. The reduction in particle size was positively correlated with higher power and longer treatment durations. Interestingly, no direct correlation between average particle size, solubility, turbidity, and ζ-potential was observed. Additionally, the ultrasound-modified PPIc in this study exhibited comparable characteristics to laboratory-prepared pea protein isolates, in terms of solubility, water-holding capacity, and gel strength. Overall, manipulating ultrasonic parameters presents a feasible method to customize the texture of pea-protein-based substitute.