{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,4]],"date-time":"2026-01-04T05:17:34Z","timestamp":1767503854001,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767312000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["UIDB\/04469\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04469\/2020"]}]},{"name":"LABBELS\u2013Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems","award":["LA\/P\/0029\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0029\/2020"]}]},{"name":"FCT\/MCTES","award":["UIDB\/50006\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/50006\/2020"]}]},{"name":"FCT\/MCTES","award":["UIDP\/50006\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/50006\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["SFRH\/BD\/146347\/2019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SFRH\/BD\/146347\/2019"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Plant-derived proteins have been growing in interest for the design of innovative foods and ingredients following the trend of animal protein substitution. These proteins display interesting functional properties, including emulsifying, foaming, and gelling capacity. Unfortunately, commercially available plant protein ingredients often present limited functionality due to the modifications induced during production. In this study, ohmic heating (OH) was evaluated as a physical modification strategy to enhance the functionality of commercial pea protein (PP). PP dispersions were subjected to OH at 100 \u00b0C, 130 \u00b0C, and 150 \u00b0C, and their physicochemical, foaming, emulsifying, and gelling properties were assessed. OH processing significantly reduced mean particle size, with the surface-area weighted diameter (D(3,2)) decreasing from approximately 76.1 \u00b5m in untreated PP to 56.5, 31.1, and 10.6 \u00b5m after OH at 100, 130, and 150 \u00b0C, respectively. These structural changes resulted in a clear improvement in foaming performance, with foaming capacity increasing by approximately 40% compared to the control, while all foams remained stable for at least 60 min. In contrast, emulsifying activity showed no substantial enhancement. Cold-set gels prepared from OH-treated PP exhibited significantly altered rheological behavior, characterized by lower complex modulus values (G* \u2248 0.8\u20135.4 kPa at 1 Hz) compared to the untreated PP gel (\u224825.2 kPa), indicating the formation of softer yet more homogeneous gel networks. Overall, the results demonstrate that OH is an effective tool to tailor the functional properties of commercial pea protein, particularly by enhancing foaming performance and modulating gel structure, supporting its potential application in the development of novel plant-based food products.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels12010050","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T12:23:44Z","timestamp":1767356624000},"page":"50","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Role of Ohmic Heating in Tailoring Pea Protein Functionality"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2856-3919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zita","family":"Avelar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2091-5067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Loureiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"LABBELS\u2014Associate Laboratory, 4710-057 Braga\/Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana Catarina","family":"Leite","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3593-8878","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio A.","family":"Vicente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"LABBELS\u2014Associate Laboratory, 4710-057 Braga\/Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4416-0220","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui M.","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"LABBELS\u2014Associate Laboratory, 4710-057 Braga\/Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109417","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodhyd.2023.109417","article-title":"Heat-induced gels from pea protein soluble colloidal aggregates: Effect of calcium addition or pH adjustment on gelation behavior and rheological properties","volume":"147","author":"Ren","year":"2024","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shanthakumar, P., Klepacka, J., Bains, A., Chawla, P., Dhull, S.B., and Najda, A. 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