Techno-functional properties of pea (Pisum sativum) protein isolates: A review

Abstract

Due to high nutritive quality, good techno-functional properties and low cost, legume protein products are becoming the most appropriate alternative to protein products of animal origin. In food industries, these products are usually used as techno-functional additives which provide specific characteristics of final food products. Legume proteins are commonly used as flour, concentrates, and isolates. The greatest application on industrial scale has soy proteins, and to a lesser extent, in the past 20 years, pea protein isolates. The modest use of pea protein is partly a result of insufficient information relating to their techno-functional properties. This paper is an overview of techno-functional properties of pea proteins and their isolates. Also, the paper deals with the possible use of limited enzymatic hydrolysis as a method for the improvement of their techno-functional properties.