Dados do Trabalho

Título

APPLICATION OF PHYSICAL PROCESSES TO ENHANCE PUMPKIN SEED PROTEIN EMULSION CAPACITY AND STABILITY

Introdução

Vegetable co-products and by-products, such as pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita moschata D.), represent a promising option in the alternative protein market. To optimize the functionality of these proteins, physical processes can be used simultaneously with extraction, aiming to obtain ingredients with improved industrial applications. Therefore, this work evaluated the effect of applying physical processes (high shear dispersion (HSD), ultrasound (US) and roasting) during protein extraction on the emulsification capacity and stability of pumpkin seed proteins.

Material e Métodos

For this, the seeds were divided into non-roasted and roasted (200 °C/10 min), and subsequently ground. The flours obtained were subjected to protein extraction by isoelectric precipitation. During the alkaline solubilization stage (pH=10.0/120 min), HSD (15,000 rpm/20 min/25°C) and US (38W.L-1/20 min/25°C) were applied. The control was processed under the same extraction conditions but without the application of physical processes. Samples were lyophilized and analyzed for emulsion capacity and stability.

Resultados e Discussão

As a result, it was observed that the application of HSD and US had a positive impact on the emulsifying activity of the concentrates, with increases of up to 14.7% and 16.4% respectively, when compared to the control (p<0.05). The roasted and non-roasted samples did not differ from each other (p>0.05), demonstrating that the mechanical effect of the technologies was superior to the thermal effect. Furthermore, when compared to the control, there was no increase in the emulsion stability after the application of physical processes (p>0.05). However, a comparison between non-roasted HSD (73.8%) and both roasted (65.7%) and non-roasted (64.7%) US treatments demonstrates that high shear dispersion was superior to sonication in maintaining of emulsion stability (p<0.05).

Conclusão

Therefore, it is concluded that the application of physical processes in the extraction of pumpkin seed proteins can enhanceprotein functionality, with emphasis on HSD. Further work is needed to evaluate these effects on other technical-functional properties.