The demand for plant-based proteins has been increasing due to the nutritional needs of an ever-increasing human population. The oilseeds from Brassica family contain nutritionally important proteins, that have the potential to be used in food but are infrequently used as food components. For instance, canola protein has an exceptional amino acid profile, it has only found limited use in the food industry because of their limited solubility and the presence of certain antinutritional compounds such as phenolic compounds including sinapine, glucosinolates, phytates and fiber. Improved functional properties and removal of antinutritional compounds can open up new market opportunities for canola protein. This study aimed to degrade the antinutritional compounds and improve the solubility of canola protein using atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment. To determine the potential of ACP treatment on the degradation of phenolic compounds, 4% canola protein solution with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate were centrally applied on round cover glass that placed on microscopy slides. The protein solution was treated by ACP for 10 min at room temperature. The quantity of total phenolic compounds was determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometer and the solubilities of canola protein at different pH (3, 5, 7, 9, 12) were analyzed. All the experiments were performed in triplicate and data were statistically analyzed. The results showed that 10 min ACP treatment significantly reduced the total phenolic compounds by 74%. The solubility of ACP treated canola protein was influenced by the pH; the highest solubility was observed at a pH of 12 with an increase in solubility by 24%. This study demonstrated that ACP can be used to reduce the antinutritional phenolic compounds and improve the solubility of canola protein, however future studies are required to quantify the degradation of specific phenolic compounds and structural changes in canola protein after ACP treatment.

Improvement of canola protein functionality by atmospheric cold plasma treatment

ACS Fall 2021

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