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New Insights into the Structural, Functional and Nutritional Properties of...
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New Insights into the Structural, Functional and Nutritional Properties of Plant-Based Proteins

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1208

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sonja Jakovetić Tanasković

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: alternative protein sources; protein hydrolysis; bioreactor configuration; enzymes; biocatalysis; protein extraction; waste valorization
Prof. Dr. Zorica Knežević-Jugović

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: enzyme reaction engineering; biocatalysis; biotransformation; design and optimization of enzyme transformations of natural compounds; modeling of bioprocesses; plant proteins; bioactive peptides; enzymatic-assisted extraction; intensification of bioactive compound extraction; immobilized enzymes; encapsulation of bioactive compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nataša Šekuljica

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Innovation Centre, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: alternative protein sources; ultrasound-assisted protein extraction and modification; bioremediation; enzyme production and purification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Proteins are essential macronutrients in the human diet, and in order to fulfill protein requirements for the ever-growing global population, new protein sources must be exploited. This problem emphasizes the importance of plant-based proteins. However, to maximize their use in food products, comprehensive analysis of structural, functional, and nutritional properties is mandatory. Therefore, this Special Issue of Foods aims to provide insight into the alternative sources of plant-based proteins and their potential use in human nutrition. The focus is set on the methods for their extraction and purification and how they affect structural, functional, and nutritional properties, and, as a result, their application in food products. We also encourage papers offering new insights into emerging methods for extraction, modification, purification, characterization, or application of plant-based proteins from traditional protein crops. Additionally, papers reporting different biological functions of plant-based proteins are also welcome.

Dr. Sonja Jakovetić Tanasković
Prof. Dr. Zorica Knežević-Jugović
Dr. Nataša Šekuljica
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • alternative protein sources
  • plant-based protein isolation
  • plant-based protein purification
  • functional properties of plant-based proteins
  • plant-based protein nutritional properties
  • structural characterization of plant-based proteins
  • modification of plant-based proteins
  • enzyme-assisted extraction of plant-based proteins
  • plant-based protein application

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 2305 KiB  
Article
Impact of Supercritical CO2 Treatment on Lupin Flour and Lupin Protein Isolates
by Rubén Domínguez-Valencia, Roberto Bermúdez, Mirian Pateiro, Laura Purriños, Jose Benedito and José M. Lorenzo
Foods 2025, 14(4), 675; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14040675 - 17 Feb 2025
Viewed by 774
Abstract
Global population growth is putting pressure on the food supply, necessitating the exploration of new, alternative, and sustainable protein sources. Lupin, an underutilized legume in human nutrition, has the potential to play a significant role in addressing this challenge. However, its incorporation into [...] Read more.
Global population growth is putting pressure on the food supply, necessitating the exploration of new, alternative, and sustainable protein sources. Lupin, an underutilized legume in human nutrition, has the potential to play a significant role in addressing this challenge. However, its incorporation into the human diet requires thorough investigation, including exploring and optimizing functionalization processes to maximize its potential. This study aimed to optimize the parameters (pressure, time, and CO2 flow) for extracting anti-technological factors (ATFs) from lupin using supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) and to evaluate the effects of this extraction on both the flour and the protein isolate derived from it. Optimization revealed that the optimal SC-CO2 conditions were a CO2 flow rate of 4 kg/h at 400 bar for 93 min. Under these conditions, significant changes were observed in the flour composition, including a reduction in oil, polyphenols, and moisture content, along with an increase in ash content. Improved color parameters were also noted. These variations were attributed to the removal of oil and phenolic compounds during processing. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that SC-CO2 treatment improved lupin protein isolate (LPI) purity (93.81 ± 0.31% vs. 87.42 ± 0.48%), significantly reduced oil content (8.31 ± 0.09% vs. 14.31 ± 0.32%), and enhanced color parameters. The SC-CO2 procedure also resulted in a higher protein extraction yield (56.95 ± 0.45% vs. 53.29 ± 2.37%). However, the total extraction yield (g LPI/100 g of flour) was not affected by SC-CO2 treatment, remaining at 24.30 ± 0.97% for the control sample and 24.21 ± 0.26% for the treated sample. The extracted oil (2.71 ± 0.11 g/100 g of flour), a co-product of the SC-CO2 step, exhibited a fatty acid profile characterized by high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (62.8 ± 0.74 g/100 g oil), oleic acid (27.76 ± 0.77 g/100 g oil), linoleic acid (25.98 ± 0.73 g/100 g oil), and α-linolenic acid (5.32 ± 0.16 g/100 g oil), as well as a balanced ratio of essential fatty acids (n-6/n-3 = 4.89). The treatment had minimal to no effect on amino acid content or chemical score, and the protein was characterized by high amounts of essential amino acids (334 ± 3.12 and 328 ± 1.05 mg/g protein in LPI-control and LPI-SF, respectively). These findings demonstrate that both the LPI and the oil extracted using SC-CO2 possess high nutritional quality and are suitable for human food applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into the Structural, Functional and Nutritional Properties of Plant-Based Proteins)
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