Abstract

Understanding how foaming properties of proteins are affected by factors such as pH, salt concentration and temperature is essential in predicting their performance and utilisation. In this study, the effects of pH and salt concentration were studied on the foaming properties of pumpkin seed protein isolate (PSPI) and PSPI- xanthan (XG)/Arabic (GA) gum blends. The foaming properties of the PSPI-GA/XG blends were also compared with egg white. Foam stability (FS) was significantly affected by pH with PSPI: GA (25:4) and PSPI: XG (25:1) having a significantly higher stability at pH 2 with the lowest foam stability at pH 4. Sodium chloride (0.2-1.0 M) did not significantly affect foaming properties although PSPI: GA (25:4) had the highest FC (89.33 ± 3.24%) and FS (76.83 ± 1.53 min) at 0.2 M sodium chloride concentration. The foaming capacity (FC) of PSPI: GA (25:4) blend (128.00 ± 0.91%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of egg white (74.00 ± 1.33%) but its FS was significantly lower. It was further revealed that the FC of egg white (74.00 ± 1.33%) was comparable to the PSPI:XG (25:1) blend (74.00 ± 1.46%) but the FS for egg white (480.00 ± 2.67 min) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the FS (116.21 ± 0.86 min) of PSPI:XG (25:1). The foaming properties of PSPI and PSPI-xanthan (XG)/Arabic (GA) blends were significantly affected by pH. Optimum foaming properties, PSPI:XG (25:1) and PSPI:GA (25:4) were observed at pH 2 and heat treatment temperature of 80 ºC.

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