Compositional variation and heat-induced gelation of pea flour dispersions

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Heat-induced gelation of pea flour reflects interactions among starch, protein, fibre, and minerals, but relationships between flour composition and gelation remain insufficiently understood. In this study, 96 genetically diverse pea accessions were screened for main composition and protein profile. Based on starch content, accessions were classified as high-starch (≥ 40%) or low-starch (< 40%), and 18 representative accessions were selected for analysis of supernatant particle size, protein distribution, and rheological behaviour. High-starch flours generally had higher amylopectin/amylose and legumin/vicilin ratios but lower protein, ash, and fibre-rich fraction than low-starch flours. Low-starch accessions generally showed larger and more heterogeneous particles in the non-heated supernatant, whereas protein distribution overlapped considerably between groups. For group-level rheological analysis, high-starch and low-starch samples were prepared at 12% and 18%, respectively, to obtain self-supporting gels. These formulations had comparable average total starch contents in the final gels (∼5.1%) but differed in amylose, amylopectin, protein, ash, and fibre-rich fraction. High-starch samples showed higher G′ at the end of heating and greater deformation tolerance, whereas low-starch samples showed higher final G′ after cooling but lower deformation tolerance. Principal component analysis showed that rheological properties were more closely associated with starch and amylopectin in the high-starch group, but with a broader combination of compositional and supernatant particle characteristics in the low-starch group. Overall, heat-induced gelation was associated with coordinated compositional variation rather than the isolated effects of starch or protein.