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Two-step digestion pathways of hydrogels from pea proteins

Schirone, Davide LU ; Maischberger, Anna LU ; Dessì, Francesca LU ; Merten, Lena LU ; Rahdar, Negar LU ; Herranz-Trillo, Fátima LU ; Matsarskaia, Olga ; Jeffries, Cy M. ; Del Giudice, Rita LU and Roosen-Runge, Felix LU (2026) In Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 703(Pt 2).
Abstract

HYPOTHESIS: Digestion pathways of plant proteins are of high relevance to optimize bioavailability and allergenicity profiles of sustainable and vegan food products. Understanding the structural breakdown of solid food presents a particular challenge, due to the complexity to realize a good model system suitable for comprehensive multi-technique characterization under realistic conditions.

EXPERIMENTS: We used a microfluidic chip to study the structural evolution during in-vitro digestion of solid gels from pea proteins. The gel structure was probed in-situ combining confocal microscopy, small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering using the same experimental platform. SDS-PAGE analysis was performed on related solution and gel... (More)

HYPOTHESIS: Digestion pathways of plant proteins are of high relevance to optimize bioavailability and allergenicity profiles of sustainable and vegan food products. Understanding the structural breakdown of solid food presents a particular challenge, due to the complexity to realize a good model system suitable for comprehensive multi-technique characterization under realistic conditions.

EXPERIMENTS: We used a microfluidic chip to study the structural evolution during in-vitro digestion of solid gels from pea proteins. The gel structure was probed in-situ combining confocal microscopy, small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering using the same experimental platform. SDS-PAGE analysis was performed on related solution and gel samples subjected to different digestion times.

FINDINGS: Combining multiple techniques we reach a multi-scale picture of gel digestion, revealing the breakdown of a more homogeneous gel into more open connected domains with hierarchical internal structures. SDS-PAGE outlines effects of processing on resulting digestion pathways. As central result, we observe a clear two-step digestion process across techniques, switching at about 8-10 min from the initial response to long-term digestion. Overall, the presented methodology holds promise for detailed structural information in future studies aimed at developing new foods with optimized mechanical, nutritional value, and reduced allergenicity.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
volume
703
issue
Pt 2
article number
139215
pages
9 pages
publisher
Academic Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:105018468763
  • pmid:41092540
ISSN
0021-9797
DOI
10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139215
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
id
4b6af987-c2f4-4c3e-a37f-d8d84ad31ec3
date added to LUP
2025-10-22 07:02:45
date last changed
2025-12-04 07:23:01
@article{4b6af987-c2f4-4c3e-a37f-d8d84ad31ec3,
  abstract     = {{<p>HYPOTHESIS: Digestion pathways of plant proteins are of high relevance to optimize bioavailability and allergenicity profiles of sustainable and vegan food products. Understanding the structural breakdown of solid food presents a particular challenge, due to the complexity to realize a good model system suitable for comprehensive multi-technique characterization under realistic conditions.</p><p>EXPERIMENTS: We used a microfluidic chip to study the structural evolution during in-vitro digestion of solid gels from pea proteins. The gel structure was probed in-situ combining confocal microscopy, small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering using the same experimental platform. SDS-PAGE analysis was performed on related solution and gel samples subjected to different digestion times.</p><p>FINDINGS: Combining multiple techniques we reach a multi-scale picture of gel digestion, revealing the breakdown of a more homogeneous gel into more open connected domains with hierarchical internal structures. SDS-PAGE outlines effects of processing on resulting digestion pathways. As central result, we observe a clear two-step digestion process across techniques, switching at about 8-10 min from the initial response to long-term digestion. Overall, the presented methodology holds promise for detailed structural information in future studies aimed at developing new foods with optimized mechanical, nutritional value, and reduced allergenicity.</p>}},
  author       = {{Schirone, Davide and Maischberger, Anna and Dessì, Francesca and Merten, Lena and Rahdar, Negar and Herranz-Trillo, Fátima and Matsarskaia, Olga and Jeffries, Cy M. and Del Giudice, Rita and Roosen-Runge, Felix}},
  issn         = {{0021-9797}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{Pt 2}},
  publisher    = {{Academic Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Colloid and Interface Science}},
  title        = {{Two-step digestion pathways of hydrogels from pea proteins}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139215}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139215}},
  volume       = {{703}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}