Pulsed Electric Field Treatment in Extracting Proteins from Legumes: A Review

A healthy diet rich in plant proteins can help in preventing chronic degenerative diseases. Plant-based protein consists of derivatives from algae, fungi (like mushrooms) and other plant products including stems, leaves, fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, legumes and nuts. These sources are not only rich in protein, but also contain a high percentage of iron, calcium, folates, fiber, carbohydrates, fats etc. Hence, it is essential to explore plant-based protein sources and their other nutritional components to address existing food insecurity issues. Nowadays, the impact of food processing has produced promising results in extracting valuable bio-compounds including proteins from the plant matrix. In this view, PEF technology has secured an exceptional place in solving food quality issues through minimized thermal effects in the samples, improved extraction capabilities at a shorter time, higher extraction levels, high nutritional content of extracted samples, greater shelf-life extension and increased microbial killing efficiency. It is an energy efficient process which is used as a pre-treatment to increase selective extraction of intracellular compounds through electroporation technique. Here, the processing parameters play a significant role in obtaining enhanced extraction levels. These parameters have also considerably influenced the protein digestibility and amino acid modification. So far, PEF has been producing remarkable results in plant protein extraction research. Among various plant sources mentioned above, there is a limited literature available on the use of PEF-assisted protein extraction from legumes. In this review, the authors have discussed essential legumes and their nutritional components and have highlighted how PEF can be beneficial in extracting the protein levels from these sources. Further research should focus on PEF-assisted protein extraction from legumes, specifically analyzing the properties of protein quality and quantity.