Ning, Q., Ling, J. K. U., Wu, J. Y., Manavalan, T., Subramanian, G. S., Basri, N., ... & Ng, S. B. (2026). Turning RuBisCO-Enriched Snap Pea Protein Concentrates into Function: A Novel Plant Protein for Fat-Free Whipped Cream Alternatives. Food Hydrocolloids, 112769.
Abstract:
With the growing concerns over the environmental and ethical impacts associated with the use of animal-based protein, there is a need to explore new sustainable alternative protein sources. In this study, the potential of a novel snap pea protein (SPP) as a functional ingredient for aerated food products development was evaluated. Through the in-house established and validated miniaturized assay, the techno-functional properties, including emulsifying, foaming, and gelling properties of SPP were evaluated and compared with egg white protein (EWP) and mung bean protein (MBP). At optimized extraction pH of 11 and solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:20 w/v, SPP of protein content of 68.6% was obtained. The functional properties testing revealed excellent foaming capacity of SPP, which was found to be comparable to EWP at neutral pH, along with great emulsifying properties than MBP and has good gelling properties with least gelling concentration of 8%. Proteomic profiling and SDS-PAGE analysis showed a wide distribution of protein populations, with notable enrichment of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) protein in a foam layer, suggesting the role of RuBisCO in exerting foaming effects. Owning excellent foaming properties, SPP was incorporated into a fat-free whipped cream formulation and benchmarked against EWP and MBP using identical formulations. A pH-shifting treatment was employed to further improve the solubility and surface hydrophobicity of protein samples prior to whipping. The results showed that the SPP-based whipped cream achieved the highest overrun of 255.9% and maintained morphological stability for 60 minutes, demonstrating strong potential as plant-based foaming agents for aerated food systems.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) - Singapore Food Story R&D Programme Theme 2 Industry Alignment Fund - Pre-positioning Cycle 2
Grant Reference no. : A21H7a0132
This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) - Singapore Food Story R&D Programme Theme 2: Future Foods – Whitespace Programme for Shared Lab Facilities
Grant Reference no. : W22W2D0001
This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) - Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D Programme 1.0 Theme 2 Future Foods: Shared Lab Facilities Whitespace Funding
Grant Reference no. : W23W2D0012
This research is supported by core funding from: Council Strategic Funds, BMRC
Grant Reference no. : C210314014; C210314016