Understanding and improving the gelation of commercial plant protein isolates: The role of structure, processing, and composition

Plant-based food products often contain several additives and may have relatively longer ingredient lists than the animal protein-based products they aim to replace. These additives are required to compensate for the lower functional quality of plant proteins in structuring and texturising food products. However, such unfamiliar, chemical-sounding, industrially processed ingredients are often perceived negatively by consumers. Therefore, there is a growing interest in developing strategies to replace these ingredients with more natural and clean-label alternatives to improve the appeal and acceptance of plant-based products. In this project, we investigated the impact of processing, explored possible synergies between plant proteins from different sources, added plant inherent components such as fibres, and assessed the potential of enzymes to enhance the gelling properties of plant proteins.