Roles of Cold Plasma Treatment on the Functional Properties of Plant-Based Proteins

The growing demand for sustainable, ethical, and healthier foods has generated interest in plant-based proteins as alternatives to animal proteins. Although promising, these proteins often face limitations due to inherent characteristics that restrict their application diverse food products. These include low solubility, foaming, emulsification, and gelation, which collectively impede their utilization in food systems. To overcome this, cold plasma, a nonthermal and eco-friendly technology, has recently emerged as a promising strategy to enhance protein functionality without compromising nutritional quality. This review examines the mechanisms, functional outcomes, and food applications cold plasma in plant-based proteins, with focus on comparison with conventional and emerging protein modification technologies. Rigorous literature search was conducted to obtain relevant information from databases used to develop the review. The results revealed that plasma treatments usually generate reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, ultraviolet photons, and charged particles that can unfold protein structures, promote cross-linking, and alter surface properties like charge and hydrophobicity. These modifications improve hydration, dispersion, and stability, and enhance performances in emulsions, foams, and gels in plant protein products. Cold plasma offers advantages in terms of energy efficiency and versatility, despite challenges of reproducibility, oxidation, scalability, and consumer acceptance. Combining cold plasma with other processing techniques like ultrasound or fermentation, while applying advanced omics approaches could offer better understanding and open opportunities for food applications. Overall, cold plasma offers a valuable approach to enhance functionality of plant proteins, with strong potential to support innovation, sustainability, and nutrition in the food industry.