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Molecules
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Functional Proteins in Food: Chemistry, Applications, and Health Benefits
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Functional Proteins in Food: Chemistry, Applications, and Health Benefits

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 1984

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Di Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Interests: food nutrition; protein digestion; gut microbiota; intestinal endocrine cells; Maillard reaction; proteomics; meat processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Proteins are important nutrients in food. Nowadays, new protein resources are being developed to cope with the growing global population demands. As such, the safety and nutritional properties of these new proteins present a field of interest for both the food industry and academicians. In addition, new physical, chemical and enzymatic methods are being explored to improve the processing, flavor and nutritional properties of food, whereas the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In addition, the relationship between protein dietary and human benefits requires more evidence considering that high-protein diets are now widely consumed. For this Special Issue, research and review papers regarding how new dietary proteins, modified proteins and protein hydrolysates improve the processing, flavor and nutritional properties of food, and evidence explaining how a protein diet influences human health are welcomed.

Dr. Di Zhao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • functional proteins
  • new protein sources
  • protein diet
  • modified protein
  • human benefits
  • application
  • processing
  • flavor properties

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1165 KiB  
Article
A Comparison of Phenolic, Flavonoid, and Amino Acid Compositions and In Vitro Antioxidant and Neuroprotective Activities in Thai Plant Protein Extracts
by Pontapan Polyiam and Wipawee Thukhammee
Molecules 2024, 29(13), 2990; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29132990 - 23 Jun 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1541
Abstract
The leaves of mulberry, Azolla spp., sunflower sprouts, cashew nut, and mung bean are considered rich sources of plant protein with high levels of branched-chain amino acids. Furthermore, they contain beneficial phytochemicals such as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Additionally, there are reports suggesting [...] Read more.
The leaves of mulberry, Azolla spp., sunflower sprouts, cashew nut, and mung bean are considered rich sources of plant protein with high levels of branched-chain amino acids. Furthermore, they contain beneficial phytochemicals such as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Additionally, there are reports suggesting that an adequate consumption of amino acids can reduce nerve cell damage, delay the onset of memory impairment, and improve sleep quality. In this study, protein isolates were prepared from the leaves of mulberry, Azolla spp., sunflower sprouts, cashew nut, and mung bean. The amino acid profile, dietary fiber content, phenolic content, and flavonoid content were evaluated. Pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, anticholinesterase, monoamine oxidase, and γ-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T) activities, were also assessed. This study found that concentrated protein from mung beans has a higher quantity of essential amino acids (52,161 mg/100 g protein) compared to concentrated protein from sunflower sprouts (47,386 mg/100 g protein), Azolla spp. (42,097 mg/100 g protein), cashew nut (26,710 mg/100 g protein), and mulberry leaves (8931 mg/100 g protein). The dietary fiber content ranged from 0.90% to 3.24%, while the phenolic content and flavonoid content ranged from 0.25 to 2.29 mg/g and 0.01 to 2.01 mg/g of sample, respectively. Sunflower sprout protein isolates exhibited the highest levels of dietary fiber (3.24%), phenolic content (2.292 ± 0.082 mg of GAE/g), and flavonoids (2.014 mg quercetin/g of sample). The biological efficacy evaluation found that concentrated protein extract from sunflower sprouts has the highest antioxidant activity; the percentages of inhibition of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical were 20.503 ± 0.288% and 18.496 ± 0.105%, respectively. Five plant-based proteins exhibited a potent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme activity, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition, and GABA-T ranging from 3.42% to 24.62%, 6.14% to 20.16%, and 2.03% to 21.99%, respectively. These findings suggest that these plant protein extracts can be used as natural resources for developing food supplements with neuroprotective activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Proteins in Food: Chemistry, Applications, and Health Benefits)
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