Search Results (111)

This study examines how varying the isolated pea protein (IPP) levels (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50%) together with key extrusion conditions, including moisture level, barrel heating profile, and screw rotation speed, affect the physicochemical attributes and textural characteristics of high-moisture meat analogs (HMMAs). Results indicated that increased IPP content reduced the fiber structure, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, cutting strength, and integrity index of HMMAs. Processing conditions resulted in pronounced changes in both the physicochemical attributes and texture of HMMAs. The increase in moisture content resulted in a decrease in HMMA fiber structure and textural properties. In contrast, increases in barrel temperature and screw speed were associated with higher TPA values, greater cutting strength in both vertical and parallel orientations, and an improved integrity index in HMMAs. Furthermore, the gelation behavior of IPP played a critical role in the formation of the fibrous structure, with optimal gel strength and water retention achieved under specific extrusion conditions. These findings underscore the importance of protein gelation in structuring IPP-based meat analogs and provide insights into the gel-based mechanisms underlying their textural properties. Overall, the optimum IPP content to produce HMMAs in this experiment was 30%, and the process variables were 55% moisture content, barrel temperature of 160 °C, and screw speed of 250 rpm. Full article

Protein-enriched fruit gels, such as spoonable sauces and cuttable gels, can meet consumers’ desire for high protein/fiber value-added health foods. High pressure processing (HPP) is a nonthermal pasteurizing method that has shown additional usage as a novel structuring method for gels by affecting protein–protein interactions. This work studied HPP (575 MPa, 3 min, 5 °C) compared to heat (85–90 °C, 3–10 min) pasteurization as a method to produce novel fruit gels from whole Concord grapes enriched with 4, 6, and 8% (w/w) chickpea and pea protein. Physicochemical and rheological analyses were conducted, as well as sensory evaluation of a model gel. Heat-treated gels produced spoonable high viscosity gels compared to free standing gels produced through HPP. Chickpea protein-enriched samples exhibited a greater change with an increase in heat processing due to non-protein constituents compared to pea protein. Sensory analysis showed a desire for added nutritional value, though flavor was ultimately the deciding factor in preference, with heat-treated gels achieving higher liking scores compared to a HPP counterpart. Full article

In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported cases of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs, including breeds without known genetic predisposition, fed diets containing a high proportion of legumes or potatoes, many labeled grain-free. Despite concerns, grain-free diets remain increasingly popular. This narrative review focuses on the peer-reviewed literature and summarizes recent studies evaluating the effects of grain-free diets on canine cardiac health, with emphasis on taurine deficiency, metabolic alterations, and emerging hypotheses extending beyond nutritional inadequacy. These findings suggest a strong link between diet and DCM, particularly regarding legumes. Dogs of various breeds showed larger left ventricular diameters, reduced systolic function, and increased premature ventricular complexes when fed non-traditional, grain-free, legume-rich diets compared to those on traditional, low-legume diets. Many affected dogs improved clinically and functionally with dietary changes and treatment, suggesting nutritional DCM could be reversible. Though mechanisms remain unclear, the research highlights the potential roles of legumes, particularly peas, in the gut microbiota and fiber-related bile acid metabolism. This review also distinguishes taurine-deficiency-related DCM as a separate form, with certain breeds, notably Golden Retrievers, being more susceptible. Overall, further studies are required to better understand the role of nutrition in canine cardiac health. Full article

The development of a fibrous-structured meat alternative that can perfectly mimic the tribology of the meat is considered to be extremely challenging. In this study, a bottom-up technique, wet spinning, was used to produce a fiber-like structure similar to muscle fiber. Different protein concentrations (0% to 16%) of wheat protein, pea protein isolates, and sodium alginate (2%) were used as an emulsifier and compared with the conventional meat (longissimus dorsi muscle) from a barrow in terms of physicochemical (pH, color, moisture content, cooking loss), textural (Texture profile and Warner–Bratzler Shear Force), and sensory parameters. The results from the study showed that the ratio of protein concentration significantly affected the solution behavior, leading to change in the spinnability of solution. The combined protein formulations displayed by a greater range of physicochemical and textural properties, especially hardness and WBSF, ranged from 22 N to 32.20 N and 4.26 to 4.71 kg/cm² in comparison to each other (p < 0.05). However, principal component analysis has shown that the overall profiling was significantly different than that of conventional meat (p < 0.05). The overall results suggested that the blend of wheat protein and pea protein isolate shows great potential for preparing a variety of structured meat alternatives by optimizing the concentration based on the desired product profiling. Full article

This study developed an optimized cooling die configuration to improve the fibrous structure and texture of protein extrudates. Six designs, combining three cross-sectional shapes and two flow channel layouts, were evaluated through numerical simulations based on the physical properties of pea protein isolate (PPI) and extrusion parameters. The results show that PPI exhibits pronounced shear-thinning behavior, with viscosity decreasing by more than 85% as the temperature increases from 35 °C to 135 °C. Among all designs, the rectangular outlet with a serpentine cooling channel performed best, showing a center-to-wall temperature difference of 12.4 °C compared with 7.8 °C for the circular die, a 35% higher heat transfer coefficient, a wall-to-center viscosity ratio of 7.4 compared with 4.9 for the square die and 3.7 for the circular die, and a maximum wall shear rate of 3.42 s⁻¹ compared with 2.15 s⁻¹ for the circular die. The rectangular outlet increases the center-to-wall temperature gradient, while the serpentine channel extends the flow path to raise shear and velocity gradients, together promoting fiber alignment and improving the structure of plant-based meat. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for cooling die optimization and offer a practical approach to control fiber formation in plant-based meat. Full article

The growing demand for sustainable, nutritionally adequate plant-based foods has driven innovation in meat analogues. This study presents a novel approach to upcycling potato juice protein—a by-product of starch production—into plant-based gyros (PBG) enriched with iron and dietary fiber. Four formulations (PBG1–PBG4) were developed using a blend of potato, rice, wheat, and pea proteins, and fortified with either ferritin-rich sprout powder or ferrous sulfate. Comprehensive analyses were conducted to assess nutritional composition, mineral content, glycoalkaloid safety, antioxidant activity, texture, water mobility, sensory appeal, and microbiological stability. All variants met high-protein labeling criteria and exhibited favorable fiber and mineral profiles. In vitro digestion significantly enhanced antioxidant bioaccessibility, particularly phenolic acids. Sensory evaluations favored ferritin-enriched variants, which also demonstrated superior texture and consumer acceptance. Microbiological assessments confirmed safety for up to 10 days under refrigeration. These findings highlight the potential of potato juice protein as a sustainable, functional ingredient in next-generation plant-based meat analogues. Full article

Fibromyalgia is a complex disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and a variety of related symptoms. Growing evidence suggests that the central and peripheral nervous systems are involved, with small fiber neuropathy playing a key role in its development. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 100 patients diagnosed with primary fibromyalgia. Those showing symptoms indicative of small fiber dysfunction who were treated with L-Acetyl Carnitine (LAC) and Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) alongside standard care (SOC) were compared to matched controls who received only SOC. To ensure comparable groups, propensity score matching was used. Changes in Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Revised (FIQR) scores over 12 weeks were analyzed using non-parametric tests due to the data’s non-normal distribution. After matching, 86 patients (43 in each group) were included. The group receiving LAC and PEA as add-on therapy experienced a significant median reduction in FIQR scores (−19.0 points, p < 0.001), while the SOC-only group showed no significant change. Comparisons between groups confirmed that the improvement was significantly greater in the LAC+PEA group (p < 0.001). These results suggest that adding LAC and PEA to standard care may provide meaningful symptom relief for fibromyalgia patients with suspected small fiber involvement. This supports the hypothesis that peripheral nervous system dysfunction contributes to the disease burden in this subgroup. However, further prospective controlled studies are needed to confirm these promising findings. Full article

The effects of germination on pea composition have been established. However, the effects of germination on the nutritional profile of different pea varieties have not been extensively reported. Therefore, five varieties (Passion, Greenwood, Durwood, Agassiz, and Treasure) of peas were germinated for up to six days, and their nutrient profiles, protein digestibility, in vitro protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (IV-PDCAAS), and antioxidant activity (DPPH) were determined. In addition, B vitamins were determined for the first time in most of the varieties evaluated. Germination enhanced protein digestibility across all varieties, whereas IV-PDCAAS tended to decrease with increasing germination day. The impact of germination on starch content varied, with decreasing percentages found in some varieties and increased percentages found in others. Soluble fiber increased and insoluble fiber decreased with increasing germination days. Thiamine and niacin tended to increase with increasing germination day, while pyridoxine and folate decreased. The radical scavenging activity of the germinated peas increased with increasing germination days. Overall, germination tended to improve the nutritional composition of peas, with only a few exceptions. Furthermore, the interaction effects between variety and germination day support the importance of knowing both variety and length of germination when creating germinated pea products. Full article

Peas possess significant nutritional properties due to their high protein levels, carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins. Increased climate variability can lead to water stress in crops like peas. Therefore, priming plants through seed priming is a technique that has proven effective as a pre-conditioning method for plants to cope with more severe future stresses. Different doses and soaking times of ‘Santa Isabel’ pea seeds in NaCl and H₂O₂ were evaluated to enhance and promote germination. Two experiments were conducted under controlled conditions (average temperature 15.8 °C) through a completely randomized design with a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement, comprising 12 treatments in each trial. In the first trial, NaCl doses (0, 50, 100, or 150 mM) and the soaking time of the seeds in NaCl (12, 24, or 36 h) were examined. In the second trial, H₂O₂ doses (0, 20, 40, or 60 mM) were tested with the same imbibition times. The 50 mM NaCl dose at 24 h demonstrated the best values for germination rate index, mean germination time, germination rate (GR), and germination potential (GP). Seed imbibition for 24 h in NaCl, as well as in H₂O₂, is the ideal time to achieve the best GR and GP. The dry mass of leaf and stipule recorded the highest values with a 60 mM dose of H₂O₂ and 24 h of imbibition. An application of 150 mM NaCl resulted in the highest values of germinated seed dry mass, while causing lower dry mass in roots, stems, leaves, and stipules; however, it maintained similar total dry mass values. Full article

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a significant source of dietary protein, starch, fiber, and minerals, offering health benefits and serving as both a green vegetable and dry grain. The pigment contents in pea pods with different colors and related genes are still unclear. We conducted an integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis on three cultivars, including QiZhen (QZ) with green immature pods, FengMi (FM) with yellow immature pods, and ZiYu (ZY) with purple immature pods, to identify the key genes and metabolites involved in anthocyanin accumulation. ZY showed the highest total anthocyanin content compared with FM and QZ. Subsequent quantification revealed that four metabolites, including Delphinidin-3-O-galactoside, Delphinidin-3-O-(6″-O-xylosyl)glucoside, Cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, and Pelargonidin-3-O-(xylosyl)glucoside, were the most highly accumulated in the ZY cultivar, suggesting their role in the purple pigmentation of ZY pea pods. There were 49 differentially accumulated anthocyanidins in ZY vs. FM, 43 differentially accumulated anthocyanidins in ZY vs. QZ, and 21 differentially accumulated anthocyanidins in FM vs. QZ. These findings highlight the importance of the type and concentration of anthocyanin compounds, especially those based on delphinidin, cyanidin, and pelargonidin, in the development of purple pea pods. The transcriptomic analysis revealed that certain anthocyanin biosynthetic genes were expressed at higher levels in ZY than in FM and QZ. In ZY, the higher expression levels of five key genes (PAL, 4CL, CHS, F3H, and UFGT) resulted in elevated anthocyanin content compared to FM and QZ. Furthermore, the BSA-seq analysis identified a candidate region associated with purple color in pea pods, which is located on chromosome 6 and contains 21 DEGs. Sequence variation in KIW84_061698, which encodes a bHLH transcription factor, was identified as the key candidate gene controlling anthocyanin content. This study clarifies the molecular mechanisms behind pea pod coloration and identifies potential genetic engineering targets for breeding anthocyanin-rich sugar snap peas. Full article

The Fabaceae family, the third-largest among flowering plants, is nutritionally vital, providing rich sources of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Leguminous plants, such as soybeans, peas, and chickpeas, typically contain two to three times more protein than cereals like wheat and rice, with low fat content (primarily unsaturated fats) and no cholesterol, making them essential for cardiovascular health and blood sugar management. Since the release of the soybean genome in 2010, genomic research in Fabaceae has advanced dramatically. High-quality reference genomes have been assembled for key species, including soybeans (Glycine max), common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum), and model legumes like Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, leveraging long-read sequencing, single-cell technologies, and improved assembly algorithms. These advancements have enabled telomere-to-telomere (T2T) assemblies, pan-genome constructions, and the identification of structural variants (SVs) and presence/absence variations (PAVs), enriching our understanding of genetic diversity and domestication history. Functional genomic tools, such as CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, mutagenesis, and high-throughput omics (transcriptomics, metabolomics), have elucidated regulatory networks controlling critical traits like photoperiod sensitivity (e.g., E1 and Tof16 genes in soybeans), seed development (GmSWEET39 for oil/protein transport), nitrogen fixation efficiency, and stress resilience (e.g., Rpp3 for rust resistance). Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and comparative genomics have further linked genetic variants to agronomic traits, such as pod size in peanuts (PSW1) and flowering time in common beans (COL2). This review synthesizes recent breakthroughs in legume genomics, highlighting the integration of multi-omic approaches to accelerate gene cloning and functional confirmation of the genes cloned. Full article

Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) storage using carbon-fiber-reinforced composite pressure vessels is facing increasing demands in aerospace engineering. However, hydrogen permeation in epoxy resin matrixes seriously jeopardizes the function and safety of the cryogenic vessels, and the micro-behavior of hydrogen permeation in epoxy resins remains mysterious. This study performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the hydrogen molecule permeation behaviors in two types of epoxy resin systems, with similar epoxy reins of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) and different curing agents, i.e., 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) and polypropylene glycol bis(2-aminopropyl ether) (PEA). The influencing factors, including the cross-linking degrees and temperatures, on hydrogen permeation were analyzed. It was revealed that increased cross-linking degrees enhance the tortuosity of hydrogen diffusion pathways, thereby inhibiting permeation. The adsorption characteristics demonstrated high sensitivity to temperature variations, leading to intensified hydrogen permeation at low temperatures. By triggering defects in the epoxy resin systems by uniaxial tensile simulation, high consistency between the simulation results and the results from helium permeability experiments can be achieved due to the micro-defects in the simulation model that are more realistic in practical materials. The findings provide theoretical insights into micro-scale permeation behavior and facilitate the development of high-performance epoxy resins in liquid hydrogen storage. Full article

Legumes have been identified as a key element of food innovation and excellent candidates for ensuring sustainability in food systems. However, certain legumes, such as faba beans and legume by-products, such as pea pods, are currently mainly being used in animal feed rather than exploited and valued in human nutrition. In this study, the nutritional properties, anti-nutritional factors, and in vitro protein digestibility of pea pod flour and raw and thermally treated (80, 120, 150, and 180 °C during 30 min) faba bean flours were investigated. For pea pod flours, the results showed a very interesting protein content (12.13%) and insoluble fibers (37.45%), as well as appreciable amounts of minerals, mainly calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, and iron. For faba bean flours, thermal treatment did not significantly affect the crude protein, ash, starch, and fat contents of the processed beans. Meanwhile, compared with raw faba bean flours, thermal treatment significantly decreased insoluble dietary fibers, anti-nutritional factors such as phytic acid, tannins, trypsin inhibitors, and alpha-galactosides and progressively improved the in vitro protein digestibility by 7,7%. In conclusion, faba bean and pea pod flours show significant potential as novel ingredients in the food industry. Their combination will enable the development of protein, fiber, and mineral-rich food products. Full article

The objective of this study is to investigate the digestion and metabolism characteristics of amino acids and glucose in energy and protein feeds, and to establish regression equations to accurately predict their release rates in vivo based on the in vitro digestion characteristics of the feedstuffs. A total of 9 energy feedstuffs and 19 protein feedstuffs were selected for in vitro digestion simulation experiments. Additionally, four representative energy and protein feeds were then chosen for the portal vein, femoral artery, and femoral vein blood cannulation experiments in growing pigs. The results showed that among the nine energy feedstuffs tested, wheat bran presented the highest degree of digestion, followed by wheat, whereas potato had the lowest degree of digestion. The digestibility of starch at different time points in vitro was linearly correlated with the crude fiber content, total starch content, and ratio of amylose to amylopectin (R² = 0.61~0.96). Among the 19 protein feedstuffs tested, peas released the highest total amount of amino acids, followed by sugar beet meal. The in vivo digestibility and metabolism trial in cannulated pigs showed that the total amino acid release was linearly correlated with the in vitro amino acid release rates, dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, crude fat, and total energy of the feedstuffs (R² = 0.93~0.99). Full article

Legume cultivation is important for a wide array of reasons, including its positive effects on the environment, the economy, and human health. Legumes have different amino acid profiles that complement those of the three globally most important staple foods (rice, corn, and wheat). Therefore, the aim of this work was to assess the functionality of legume flours (as well as hemp as an emerging hemp protein source) as enriching supplements in breadmaking. The research focused on both the nutritional and sensory evaluation of flour with the assistance of novel research techniques such as diffusing wave spectroscopy and static multiple light scattering. The nutritional value of yellow and green peas as well as chickpeas was comparable, with the most noticeable difference being total fiber content, that ranged between 6.8 and 9.7 g/100 g of flour. Hemp flour outclassed all legume flours both in terms of protein content as well as fiber, which was over quadrupled. However, it was associated with the cost of worse technological properties. Addition of all investigated flours increased the dough stability, which was proved by static multiple light scattering and a reduction in the Turbiscan Stability Index. Microrheology of the dough was improved only by the addition of yellow pea flour, which was manifested by an increase in the macroscopic viscosity index and decrease in the fluidity index. This flour had also the most beneficial properties for the bread quality, including texture and sensory perception, including appearance, taste, and overall acceptance. Full article