Thermal aggregation, amino acid composition and in vitro digestibility of vicilin-rich protein isolates from three Phaseolus legumes: A comparative study

The heat-induced aggregation and the in vitro digestibility of vicilin-rich protein isolates from three Phaseolus legumes, including kidney bean, red bean and mung bean were investigated and compared, and their amino acid composition and free sulfhydryl (SH) group contents also evaluated. The results showed that the extent in the heat-induced aggregation varied with the type of the protein isolates, and the formation of new disulphide bonds (at the expense of free SH contents) was involved in the formation of the aggregates. The protein isolates with higher levels of hydrophobic and uncharged polar amino acids, and lower basic amino acid contents exhibited lower extent of their heat-induced aggregation. The in vitro pepsin plus trypsin digestibility was different for various native protein isolates. The digestibility was to a varying extent affected by the heat treatment. The influences of heating on the digestibility of these proteins were closely related to the extent of their heat-induced aggregation. The results suggest that the improvement of nutritional property of those vicilin-rich protein isolates by heat treatment is largely dependent upon their amino acid composition as well as the extent of heat-induced aggregation.