Protein nanofibrils (PNFs) from plant-based protein sources have great potential for use in new sustainable food applications or biobased materials. Plant-based proteins from seven different sources (fava bean, mung bean, lupin, oat, rapeseed, soybean, and potato) were evaluated here for their ability for forming PNFs and compared with whey protein PNFs. Formation of PNFs was studied under incubation at acidic conditions (pH 2) and heat (85–90 °C) for 24–96 h. Presence of PNFs was detected using thioflavin T, circular dichroism spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The results showed that all plant-based proteins were able to form PNFs. For some of the plant protein isolates in this study, nanofibril formation is reported for the first time. We also describe and compare the distinct features associated with each protein source and the morphological alterations of the nanoscale structures. Finally, we describe how PNF production can be enhanced by purifying the fibril-forming protein component. Taken together, our study suggests that the structural and functional variation within plant protein nanofibrils can be exploited in future scaled-up food or material applications.

中文翻译：

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用于可持续食品的蛋白质纳米纤维——来自各种植物蛋白质分离物的纤维的表征和比较

来自植物蛋白质来源的蛋白质纳米纤维 (PNF) 在新的可持续食品应用或生物基材料中具有巨大的潜力。这里评估了来自七种不同来源（蚕豆、绿豆、羽扇豆、燕麦、油菜籽、大豆和马铃薯）的植物蛋白形成 PNF 的能力，并与乳清蛋白 PNF 进行了比较。在酸性条件（pH 2）和加热（85-90°C）下孵育 24-96 小时，研究了 PNF 的形成。使用硫代黄素 T、圆二色光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱和原子力显微镜检测 PNF 的存在。结果表明，所有基于植物的蛋白质都能够形成 PNF。对于本研究中的一些植物蛋白分离物，首次报道了纳米原纤维的形成。我们还描述和比较了与每种蛋白质来源相关的不同特征以及纳米级结构的形态变化。最后，我们描述了如何通过纯化形成原纤维的蛋白质成分来增强 PNF 的产生。综上所述，我们的研究表明，植物蛋白纳米纤维中的结构和功能变异可用于未来扩大规模的食品或材料应用。