Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions

Green crop biomass is a sustainable protein source, which can support solving global food challenges as well as improving the bioeconomy for novel food utilization. Two green biomasses -alfalfa and water lentil- known for a high protein content and their value as feed and food components were invest...

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Main Authors: Maren Müller, Olaf Holderer, Kuno Schwärzer, Anika Wiese-Klinkenberg, Beate Förster, Stephan Förster, Joachim Kohlbrecher, Kathleen Wood, Baohu Wu, Stephan Hauschild, Henrich Frielinghaus, Theresia Heiden-Hecht
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Food Hydrocolloids for Health
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667025925000391
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author Maren Müller
Olaf Holderer
Kuno Schwärzer
Anika Wiese-Klinkenberg
Beate Förster
Stephan Förster
Joachim Kohlbrecher
Kathleen Wood
Baohu Wu
Stephan Hauschild
Henrich Frielinghaus
Theresia Heiden-Hecht
author_facet Maren Müller
Olaf Holderer
Kuno Schwärzer
Anika Wiese-Klinkenberg
Beate Förster
Stephan Förster
Joachim Kohlbrecher
Kathleen Wood
Baohu Wu
Stephan Hauschild
Henrich Frielinghaus
Theresia Heiden-Hecht
author_sort Maren Müller
collection DOAJ
description Green crop biomass is a sustainable protein source, which can support solving global food challenges as well as improving the bioeconomy for novel food utilization. Two green biomasses -alfalfa and water lentil- known for a high protein content and their value as feed and food components were investigated for their potential in stabilizing emulsions.For interfaces in complex food systems like emulsions, the proteins from the green biomasses act similarly to other plant proteins and even to some extent to whey proteins. The extracted green biomass protein concentrates were composed of a diverse mixture of proteins: RuBisCo as the main component, enzymes like ATP subunit synthase, chlorophyll a-b binding proteins, histones and cytochromes, which all were associated as protein aggregates or protein-polyphenol complexes with sizes from 33 up to 85 nm.These multicomponent and complex green protein components were obtained in an extraction process, and proved their capability to stabilize emulsions. Key parameters are a narrow oil droplet size distribution with rather small oil droplets with a median of about 3.5 μm, a low interfacial tension with around 15 mN/m and an elastic interfacial layer with an elastic modulus of about 45 mN/m comparable to functional whey or plant proteins. The oil/water interface of the emulsion revealed a more pronounced structural rearrangement for alfalfa protein compared to water lentil proteins as quantified by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), indicating the relevance of plant protein source to the final structure.Green biomass proteins from alfalfa and water lentil represent a novel protein source to stabilize emulsions.
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spelling doaj-art-45f4fb9f4a73488a88c6ff8b31a3ed012025-08-20T02:57:35ZengElsevierFood Hydrocolloids for Health2667-02592025-12-01810023310.1016/j.fhfh.2025.100233Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsionsMaren Müller0Olaf Holderer1Kuno Schwärzer2Anika Wiese-Klinkenberg3Beate Förster4Stephan Förster5Joachim Kohlbrecher6Kathleen Wood7Baohu Wu8Stephan Hauschild9Henrich Frielinghaus10Theresia Heiden-Hecht11Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1 85747 Garching, GermanyJülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1 85747 Garching, GermanyJülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS-1) and Institute for Biological Information Processing (IBI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich, GermanyInstitute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-4: Bioinformatics), Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH,52425 Jülich, GermanyErnst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Physics of Nanoscale Systems (ER-C-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich, GermanyJülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1 85747 Garching, Germany; Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS-1) and Institute for Biological Information Processing (IBI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich, GermanyPaul Scherrer Institut, Villingen 5232, SwitzerlandAustralian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, AustraliaJülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1 85747 Garching, GermanyJülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS-1) and Institute for Biological Information Processing (IBI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich, GermanyJülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1 85747 Garching, GermanyCorresponding author.; Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1 85747 Garching, GermanyGreen crop biomass is a sustainable protein source, which can support solving global food challenges as well as improving the bioeconomy for novel food utilization. Two green biomasses -alfalfa and water lentil- known for a high protein content and their value as feed and food components were investigated for their potential in stabilizing emulsions.For interfaces in complex food systems like emulsions, the proteins from the green biomasses act similarly to other plant proteins and even to some extent to whey proteins. The extracted green biomass protein concentrates were composed of a diverse mixture of proteins: RuBisCo as the main component, enzymes like ATP subunit synthase, chlorophyll a-b binding proteins, histones and cytochromes, which all were associated as protein aggregates or protein-polyphenol complexes with sizes from 33 up to 85 nm.These multicomponent and complex green protein components were obtained in an extraction process, and proved their capability to stabilize emulsions. Key parameters are a narrow oil droplet size distribution with rather small oil droplets with a median of about 3.5 μm, a low interfacial tension with around 15 mN/m and an elastic interfacial layer with an elastic modulus of about 45 mN/m comparable to functional whey or plant proteins. The oil/water interface of the emulsion revealed a more pronounced structural rearrangement for alfalfa protein compared to water lentil proteins as quantified by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), indicating the relevance of plant protein source to the final structure.Green biomass proteins from alfalfa and water lentil represent a novel protein source to stabilize emulsions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667025925000391Green biomass proteinInterfaces in emulsionsScatteringRuBisCoEmulsionAlfalfa
spellingShingle Maren Müller
Olaf Holderer
Kuno Schwärzer
Anika Wiese-Klinkenberg
Beate Förster
Stephan Förster
Joachim Kohlbrecher
Kathleen Wood
Baohu Wu
Stephan Hauschild
Henrich Frielinghaus
Theresia Heiden-Hecht
Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
Food Hydrocolloids for Health
Green biomass protein
Interfaces in emulsions
Scattering
RuBisCo
Emulsion
Alfalfa
title Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
title_full Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
title_fullStr Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
title_full_unstemmed Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
title_short Proteins derived from green biomass: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and water lentil concentrate (Lemna minor L.) in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
title_sort proteins derived from green biomass alfalfa medicago sativa l and water lentil concentrate lemna minor l in the focus as stabilizers for emulsions
topic Green biomass protein
Interfaces in emulsions
Scattering
RuBisCo
Emulsion
Alfalfa
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667025925000391
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