Potential of air-currents assisted particle separation (ACAPS) technology for hybrid fractionation of clean-label faba bean (Vicia faba L.) protein

Air-currents assisted particle separation (ACAPS) of faba beans prior to wet separation was evaluated for its impact on chemical composition, yield and recovery of protein, starch and dietary fibre, and protein secondary structural changes. The protein and dietary fibre contents of faba bean cultivars Snowbird and Athena were positively correlated (r = 0.9, P < 0.0001) with the increasing particle size, which was offset by starch contents. ACAPS treatment of faba bean dehulled bean flours resulted in both protein- and dietary fibre-rich coarse fractions (75–500 μm). Subjecting the ACAPS-treated protein-rich (Snowbird: 38.96 ± 0.33% and Athena: 37.54 ± 0.20%) coarse fractions (250–500 μm) to micellization resulted in protein isolates (Snowbird: 97.74 ± 0.18% and Athena: 94.30 ± 0.29%). This method also resulted in starch isolates (Snowbird: 94.05 ± 1.67% and Athena: 94.33 ± 0.53%) and dietary fibre concentrates (Snowbird: 54.41 ± 1.87% and Athena: 44.89 ± 1.40%) as co-products, which were “clean label” ingredients. FTIR data confirmed that hybrid fractionation had minimal impact on protein secondary structures with β-sheets as the major structures.