Reducing anti-nutritional factors in pea protein using advanced hydrodynamic cavitation, ultrasonication, and high-pressure processing technologies

The study assessed the impact of advanced technologies - high-pressure processing (HPP), ultrasonication (US), and hydrodynamic cavitation (HDC) - during pea protein extraction on anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) in pea protein isolates (PPI) and the residues. US (20 kHz) and HDC (50 passes) were used for protein extraction, while HPP (200, 300, 400 MPa) served as a pre-treatment before traditional stirring-based extraction. ANF levels in the PPIs from these methods were compared to those from conventional stirring-based extraction (CE) and a commercial pea protein isolate (Cm). Trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) and tannin levels decreased across methods, with HDC showing the highest TIA reduction (66.09 %) and CE reducing tannin content the most (75.59 %). HPP (200 MPa) pre-treatment combined with stirring led to moderate ANF reductions but maximum protein recovery (72.74 %). However, phytic acid levels increased in all PPIs. Overall, HDC and HPP pre-treatment demonstrated potential in enhancing protein recovery and reducing specific ANFs in PPI.