Leveraging analytics to guide the production of lipids and proteins with desired functional and biological properties

Consumers' desire for a plant-based diet has prompted industrial and research efforts to produce plant-based lipids and proteins for use as functional ingredients in food applications. Nevertheless, mainstream adoption of new plant-based ingredients such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates requires a thorough understanding of the impact of important processing conditions (e.g., extraction and fractionation methods) on lipid and protein extractability, which describes the effectiveness of the process, and their functional properties (e.g., solubility, foaming and emulsifying properties), which will determine their potential applications in food products. Besides, the nutritional and biological properties of extracted lipids and proteins, for example, fatty acid and amino acid composition, digestibility, lipid oxidative state, and protein allergenicity are key aspects that should not be overlooked during the development of extraction and isolation methods of proteins and lipids for food, feed, and nutraceutical applications. In this talk, I will highlight the role of analytics to help elucidate the impact of different extraction and recovery strategies of plant-based ingredients on the composition, structure and physicochemical modifications that can enhance specific protein functional properties and extractability. Additional benefits of enzymatic extraction (enhanced protein digestibility and reduced allergenicity) and enzymatic demulsification (enhanced oil recovery and quality) will also be discussed.