Publicação
Development of novel and green technologies to improve non-animal protein solubilization for food applications
| Resumo: | The rapid growth of the global population has intensified concerns about meeting nutritional demands, particularly regarding protein availability. In Mediterranean diets, protein intake still relies heavily on animal and dairy products, contributing to high water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Although plant-based alternatives are emerging, their production capacity remains insufficient to meet the increasing global demand. Therefore, seaweed emerge as a promising alternative source, as they have high protein content, are rapidly produced, do not require excessive resources, and have a reduced environmental impact. This work focused on investigating marine seaweed species (i.e., Gracilaria verrucosa, Palmaria palmata, Porphyra dioica, Ulva lactuca, Fucus vesiculosus, and Chondrus crispus) with different structural characteristics as protein sources to be used in the food industry. Different fractionation techniques were applied to edible green, red, and brown species, enabling seaweed protein characterization and preliminary selection of extraction solvents. Despite several disruption techniques being tested to improve protein solubilization, the sequential H2O/NaOH extraction (for 1 h at room temperature) without any pre-treatment on biomass, was the condition that showed the most promising outcomes among all the species. Porphyra dioica and a Fucus vesiculosus batch with improved protein content were selected for a deeper characterization of the impact of the extraction and purification steps on physicochemical properties, protein structure, and technological functionality (e.g., gelling, emulsifying, and foaming properties). Results revealed the presence of fractions with different molecular profiles and structural conformations, as well as interesting functional properties for food applications. The use of ohmic heating as a green technology demonstrated no significant changes compared to conventional thermal heating under the defined conditions but causing changes in protein conformation. Of all the seaweed, the red alga Porphyra dioica proved to be the most promising for the intended application, presenting good extraction yields and interesting functional properties for the formulation of new food products. Overall, this work provides valuable information about protein extraction and structure, that can serve as a basis for future developments of novel food products with non-animal proteins. |
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| Autores principais: | Nunes, Rafaela Augusta Freitas |
| Assunto: | Green technologies Protein extraction Protein functionality Seaweed Extração proteica Funcionalidade proteica Macroalgas Tecnologias verdes Ciências Agrárias::Biotecnologia Agrária e Alimentar |
| Ano: | 2026 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | tese de doutoramento |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso embargado |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | The rapid growth of the global population has intensified concerns about meeting nutritional demands, particularly regarding protein availability. In Mediterranean diets, protein intake still relies heavily on animal and dairy products, contributing to high water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Although plant-based alternatives are emerging, their production capacity remains insufficient to meet the increasing global demand. Therefore, seaweed emerge as a promising alternative source, as they have high protein content, are rapidly produced, do not require excessive resources, and have a reduced environmental impact. This work focused on investigating marine seaweed species (i.e., Gracilaria verrucosa, Palmaria palmata, Porphyra dioica, Ulva lactuca, Fucus vesiculosus, and Chondrus crispus) with different structural characteristics as protein sources to be used in the food industry. Different fractionation techniques were applied to edible green, red, and brown species, enabling seaweed protein characterization and preliminary selection of extraction solvents. Despite several disruption techniques being tested to improve protein solubilization, the sequential H2O/NaOH extraction (for 1 h at room temperature) without any pre-treatment on biomass, was the condition that showed the most promising outcomes among all the species. Porphyra dioica and a Fucus vesiculosus batch with improved protein content were selected for a deeper characterization of the impact of the extraction and purification steps on physicochemical properties, protein structure, and technological functionality (e.g., gelling, emulsifying, and foaming properties). Results revealed the presence of fractions with different molecular profiles and structural conformations, as well as interesting functional properties for food applications. The use of ohmic heating as a green technology demonstrated no significant changes compared to conventional thermal heating under the defined conditions but causing changes in protein conformation. Of all the seaweed, the red alga Porphyra dioica proved to be the most promising for the intended application, presenting good extraction yields and interesting functional properties for the formulation of new food products. Overall, this work provides valuable information about protein extraction and structure, that can serve as a basis for future developments of novel food products with non-animal proteins. |
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