Synergistic Effect of Novel Hurdle Processing Techniques on Functional Attributes of Rice Bran Protein

ABSTRACT Rice bran protein has enormous potential for food and nutraceutical formulations as it is rich in protein and bioactive components, though conventional extraction often compromises its functionality. This study was conducted to develop functionally enhancement of rice bran protein (RBP) through a systematic hurdle processing technique combining low‐temperature defatting (LTD), alkaline soaking, and ultrasound‐assisted extraction (UAE). Four different combinations of treatments, for example, LTD‐Alkali, LTD‐No Alkali, HTD‐Alkali, and HTD‐No Alkali, were evaluated and the low‐temperature defatting with alkali treatment (LTD‐Alkali) followed by UAE of RBP method yielded the highest protein recovery of 12.2 ± 0.15 (g/100 g) and purity of 72.12% ± 1.82%, significantly ( p < 0.05) outperforming the other three methods. The UAE parameters were optimized at 429 W, 0.265 g/mL solid–liquid ratio, 25.9 min extraction time with protein purity of 74.23%, antioxidant activity as DPPH scavenging activity of 63.1%, total phenolic content as 35.7 (mg GAE/g), emulsifying activity as 65.3%, and foaming capacity as 37.6%. Structural analysis revealed a loose globular morphology with a mean particle size of 16.3 μm. Pearson correlation analysis ( r > 0.99) revealed strong interrelationships among the parameters, while principal component analysis (PC1: 99.05% variance) validated the integrity of the process. These findings demonstrate a scalable, statistically validated hurdle processing technique for producing high‐value rice bran protein suitable for functional food process engineering applications.