Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Plant protein ingredients are seeing a rapid rise in utilization by the food industry in a wide range of plant-based foods, driven by macro drivers related to the environment, nutrition, food security and dietary recommendations. Based on this demand, massive infrastructure investments across Western Canada in fractionation and crushing facilities are being built to produce high-value protein ingredients from pulses, oilseed and cereal crops. Pea and faba bean proteins offer tremendous potential as ingredients for the food industry. However, they are limited in terms of their nutrition, functionality and flavour profiles relative to animal-derived proteins. Unlike smaller, more soluble animal proteins (e.g., whey, ovalbumin, etc.), plant proteins have larger structures which restrict their solubility and surface-active properties needed for stabilizing foams and emulsions, essential for controlling food structure. Foams and emulsions are typically unstable systems whereby gas or oil exist as bubbles or droplets mixed within a continuous water phase. Proteins act to help stabilize these structures to allow for the development of food structures. The long-term goal of this program is to better understand structure-dynamic-function relationships of plant proteins as a means for developing a more controlled response in structuring food systems. The proposed DG program does not involve indigenous communities, societies, or individuals. Within the short term (2024-2029), my program will apply clean label strategies (e.g., pH shifting and protein-glutaminase (PG) treatment) for modifying pea and faba bean proteins and their fractions with the aim of understanding the driving mechanisms behind their ability to form foams and emulsions. The program will involve two main objectives: 1) An enzymatic treatment on pea and faba bean proteins will be examined as a means of increasing protein surface charge to improve solubility and the ability to form foams and emulsions; and 2) A pH shifting approach (i.e., extreme pH exposure) will be applied to the protein to induce structural changes, to enhance their ability to form foams and emulsions. Overall, knowledge will be gained relating to the pre-treatment of faba bean and pea proteins, its impact on protein structure and how it can be tailored to improve their stabilizing effects in plant-based foam (e.g., baked good, foam-based beverages, whipped products) and emulsion (e.g., milks, beverages, salad dressings, etc.) applications. Discoveries, intellectual property, and knowledge transfer/mobilization from this research will benefit both the plant-based ingredient and food industries, contributing to significant economic growth in the Canadian Agri-Food Sector. HQP trained in this project will be market-ready with the appropriate skills to fill the emerging employment gap within the protein ingredient and plant-based food sectors.