Oxidative attack leads to the oxidative aggregation and structural and functional feature weakening of soybean protein. We aimed to investigate the impact of ultrasonic treatment (UT) with different intensities on the structure, emulsifying features and interfacial features of oxidized soybean protein aggregates (OSPI). The results showed that oxidative treatment could disrupt the native soy protein (SPI) structure by promoting the formation of oxidized aggregates with β1-sheet structures through hydrophobic interactions. These changes led to a decrease in the solubility, emulsification ability and interfacial activity of soybean protein. After low-power ultrasound (100 W, 200 W) treatment, the relative contents of β1-sheets, β2-sheets, random coils, and disulfide bonds of the OSPI increased while the surface hydrophobicity, absolute ζ-potential value and free sulfhydryl content decreased. Moreover, protein aggregates with larger particle sizes and poor solubility were formed. The emulsions prepared using the OSPI showed bridging flocculation and decreased protein adsorption and interfacial tension. After applying medium-power ultrasound (300 W, 400 W, and 500 W) treatments, the OSPI solubility increased and particle size decreased. The α-helix and β-turn contents, surface hydrophobicity and absolute ζ-potential value increased, the structure unfolded, and the disulfide bond content decreased. These changes improved the emulsification activity and emulsion state of the OSPI and increased the protein adsorption capacity and interfacial tension of the emulsion. However, after a high-power ultrasound (600 W) treatment, the OSPI showed a tendency to reaggregate, which had a certain negative effect on the emulsification activity and interfacial activity. The results showed that UT at an appropriate power could depolymerize OSPI and improve the emulsification and interfacial activity of soybean protein.

The influence of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment at 150, 300, 450, and 600 MPa for 25 min on the physicochemical properties, structural properties, and in vitro digestibility of pea starch was studied. Compared to native and pea starch treated at 150–450 MPa, the morphology of pea starch at 600 MPa was completely destroyed and the particle size became larger, indicating complete gelatinization. The X‐ray diffraction results showed that the native pea starch was gradually changed from the C‐type into the B‐type pattern after 150–600 MPa HHP treatment. At 30–70°C, pea starch treated at 600 MPa had a higher water absorption index (p < 0.05), swelling power, and solubility than other samples did, but opposite results were obtained at 90°C. The rapid visco analyzer (RVA) results indicated that pea starch treated with high pressure at 600 MPa showed lower values of peak viscosity, trough, breakdown, final viscosity, and setback (p < 0.05), reflecting lower retrogradation. Gelatinization temperatures and enthalpy determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) decreased with the increase of pressure. Furthermore, the in vitro digestibility of HHP treated pea starches was lower than that of native pea starch (p < 0.05). Therefore, it is an effective method for HHP treatment to modify the properties of pea starches.

Owing to the health benefits associated with whole grains, there has been a sustained global effort to increase their consumption, with many countries developing guidelines for recommended amounts of whole grain intake. In China, the consumption of whole grains is low. This is due, in part, to technical obstacles in the development of whole grain foods. This review focuses on possible solutions in the whole value chain and the application of new food technologies to develop whole grain foods that taste better, have more appealing texture, are safe to consume, and better retain bioactive compounds.

The effects of different steaming methods (traditional steaming, autoclave steaming and microwave steaming) on the quality and microstructural properties of eight typical and luxuriant broad bean varieties in China were investigated. The color of broad bean seeds was not fresh after all steaming treatments and steaming–cooling treatments. All samples had very low splitting ratios, and no splitting for SYTJQ (no. 4), CXDL1 (no. 5), TX1 (no. 6) and QH10 (no.8) after soaking and traditional steaming. Broad bean seeds after autoclave steaming presented the best tenderness, followed by the traditionally steamed broad beans. As in steamed beans, denaturation of protein during heating made the cell wall rigid and tightly enveloped starch granules. After cooling, the cotyledon cells of all samples presented semblable appearance but with dense gauffers or grooves in the surface of cell wall. Intracellular gelatinization of starch occurred through sequential configurational changes in starch granules during steaming, but no extracellular gelatinization. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The broad bean is one of the most important legumes in China. Oriental cooking has always made great use of steaming as a main cooking method, both for health reasons and the sparsity of ovens. Steaming brings about a number of changes in physicochemical and structural characteristics of broad beans. However, very little information is available in the literature regarding the steaming method rather than other cooking methods. Therefore, based on our previous research, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of different steaming methods (traditional steaming at atmospheric pressure, autoclave steaming and microwave steaming) on the quality and microstructure properties of eight typical and luxuriant broad bean varieties in China. Meanwhile, we can discover some excellent broad bean varieties for steamed foods. This study may serve as the foundation for selecting steaming methods to improve the quality of convenient foods made from the broad bean.