Full Professor Laval University Québec, Quebec, United States
Abstract: Water lentils are free-floating aquatic plants that have a great agronomic potential since they can double their biomass in 24-48h. They are very rich in RubisCO, a protein that has promising properties for human consumption thanks to its high nutritive value and excellent functional properties. However, the use of leaf proteins for human food is limited by the very low protein yields during the purification steps. In a previous work of our team, an optimized protocol combining protein extraction by solubilization followed by protein purification by isoelectric point precipitation was developed to produce a water lentil protein concentrate containing 57% protein with an extraction yield of 60%: the highest ever reported in literature for leaf protein extraction. However, this protocol required the use of a large quantity of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen chloride, which is not environmentally friendly, and the protein concentrate by-product must be demineralized to be further valorised. Therefore, water lentil proteins were purified for the first time using electrodialysis with bipolar membrane (EDBM), a technology that has been developed as an ecofriendly alternative to chemical acidification. The obtained products were compared in terms of proximal and protein composition, protein yields, structure, and functionality (solubility, foaming properties, gel strength and emulsifying properties). Their functionnal properties were also compared to egg white, soy, and whey protein isolates as references. Overall, the water lentil protein concentrate and its by-product had similar to superior functional properties compared to conventional proteins. These results confirm that water lentil proteins can be successfully purified using EDBM and could be an alternative and sustainable protein source for human nutrition and food formulation.
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.jpg "Laurent Bazinet, Ph.D photo")