Smart integrated processing of highly valuable and functional proteins, dietary fibers and polyphenols from sunflower protein meal

Abstract

Brazil stands out for its agricultural diversity and production of oils, leading industries to the need to adapt to production, following world trends. SmartProSun's proposal is to develop an integrated process for recycling the ingredients of defatted sunflower meal, resulting in a concentrate with a protein content above of 75% and highly soluble (albumin-rich fractions), bioactive dietary fiber concentrate, as well as recovery of valuable effluent components, such as polyphenols and sugars. To reach this objective, it will be used different pHs, temperatures, salinities of solutions, as well as some agents that prevent interactions between proteins and polyphenols (e.g, cysteine). Differents filtration options as ultrafiltration membrane, nanofiltration together with diafiltration to separate the polyphenols from the proteins. The fractions obtained will be evaluated for functional, technological, bioactive and sensory properties. The bioactivity will be explored for antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The elaborated products will be adapted to meet the specific needs of beverages, sports nutrition, fat substitutes and other products with differentiated appeals. The project will be supported by several industry partners, the procedures based on scientific knowledge from previous studies and targeted to various segments of the market. In the expectation of success, the results will be transferred to new production sites in Europe and Brazil to create new social / economic opportunities, with employment generation in the growing vegetable protein market. (AU)