Engineering performance of plant protein gels: From molecular design to application-driven functionalities

The global food system is rapidly shifting toward plant-based alternatives, requiring deeper understand of how plant proteins can be engineered to replicate the textural and functionalities of animal proteins. Central to this is gelation chemistry, as plant proteins possess heterogeneous structures and high thermodynamic stability that influence unfolding, aggregation, and network formation. This review summarizes emerging plant protein sources and key gelation mechanisms, including heat-induced, cold-set, acid/fermentation-induced, enzymatic and mixed-protein systems. It highlights structure-activity relationships, particularly how polysaccharides, phenolic crosslinkers, minerals, and enzymes modulate network morphology, water distribution, viscoelasticity, and digestion behaviour. Advanced modifying technologies, including high-pressure processing, ultrasound, pulsed electric field, cold plasma, irradiation, extrusion, electrospinning, microfluidic spinning and 3D/4D printing are discussed for their impact on protein conformation and microstructure. The review also addresses application-driven design, market trends, and regulatory aspects, offering a chemistry-based framework for designing next-generation plant protein gels.