Protein Isolates from Defatted Pea Flour: Production and Quality Assessment

Advances in pea protein isolate technology are driving interest across research and industrial food sectors. Without defatting stage, pea protein isolate tends to demonstrate lower quality and protein content (80–85%), compared to animal or vegetable analogues (≥ 90%). This article introduces an improved pea protein isolate technology with increased protein mass fraction. Protein isolate samples were obtained from pea flour by alkaline extraction with isoelectric deposition. N-hexane, acetone, and ethanol served as defatters. The chemical composition, whiteness, solubility, amino acid composition, and IR spectra of proteins were studied using standard physicochemical methods. The solvent used at the defatting stage proved to affect the properties of protein isolate and protein flour. The defatted flour was whiter, and the color of the finished product was better. The protein content in the defatted protein isolate was 84.7% when using n-hexane, 88.0% for acetone, and 89.6% for ethanol. The protein was rich in essential amino acids; the water solubility improved. The IR spectra revealed no structural changes. Acetone proved to be the most suitable solvent, yielding a protein-rich product with improved characteristics. Defatting significantly increased protein yield and improved the color profile of protein isolate. These insights are applicable for optimizing the processing of both plant and animal-derived proteins.