Enhancement of Functional Properties of Rice Bran Proteins by High Pressure Treatment and Their Correlation with Surface Hydrophobicity

Changes in functional properties of rice bran proteins as influenced by high-pressure (HP) treatment (100-500 MPa, 10 min) were studied. Properties evaluated were protein solubility, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, foaming capacity, foam stability, emulsifying activity, emulsion stability, least gelation concentration, and surface hydrophobicity. HP treatment at 100 and 200 MPa significantly improved the solubility and oil absorption capacity, while water absorption and foaming capacities increased further reaching the maximum at 500 MPa. Compared with the untreated control sample, the emulsifying activity and foam stability of treated samples were significantly higher and least gelation concentration was lower, but none of them showed any specific trend with pressure level. Emulsion stability and surface hydrophobicity increased with the pressure level until 400 MPa and decreased slightly at 500 MPa. Pearson correlation coefficients clearly showed that surface hydrophobicity was positively correlated with water absorption capacity, foaming capacity, emulsifying activity index, and emulsion stability index, but negatively correlated with least gelation concentration. The pressure treated rice bran protein possessed good functional properties for use as a food ingredient in the formulations.