How Heat Treatment Can Improve the Performance of Plant Protein Concentrates

Plant protein ingredients are expected to do more than simply deliver protein. For food and beverage manufacturers, functionality, flavour, microbiological quality and ease of processing all play an important role in successful product development.

At ATURA Plant Origin Proteins, we continue to explore how processing can improve the performance of pulse-based ingredients across real application systems. One area of focus is the use of heat treatment, specifically steam sterilisation, to enhance the functionality and usability of fava bean and chickpea protein concentrates.

Why Heat Treat Plant Protein Concentrates?

While protein concentrates offer strong nutritional and functional value, heat treatment can help unlock new opportunities for manufacturers looking for consistent performance. Heat treatment through steam sterilisation is designed to deodorise and sterilise the protein concentrate.

This approach can support improvements in sensory quality, microbiological levels and powder handling, while maintaining useful functionality across a range of applications.

Improved Sensory Profile

One of the key findings from ATURA’s internal evaluation was the sensory improvement seen after heat treatment.

For fava bean protein concentrate, heat treatment reduced the characteristic beany and pulse flavour, resulting in a more neutral profile with only faint beany notes. Chickpea protein concentrate also showed a cleaner taste profile, moving from a mild nutty flavour to a more neutral, faint nutty profile.

This is particularly important for manufacturers developing plant-based foods and beverages where flavour masking can be a challenge. A cleaner-tasting ingredient gives formulators more flexibility and can reduce the need for additional flavour systems.

Reduced Microbiological Counts

Heat treatment also showed a clear reduction in microbiological counts.

In ATURA’s internal testing, all micro parameters were significantly reduced in both fava bean and chickpea protein concentrates following heat treatment.

For manufacturers, this can be an important consideration when developing products where microbiological quality and ingredient consistency are critical.

Better Powder Handling and Dispersibility

Another key advantage observed was improved powder handling. The heat treatment led to improved flowability, wettability and dispersibility. In simple water dispersion testing, the heat-treated versions of both fava bean and chickpea protein concentrates dispersed more effectively than their native equivalents. This can make a practical difference in production environments, particularly where ingredients need to be added into liquid systems, dry powder blends or extrusion feeding systems.

Functional Performance Across Applications

ATURA’s application testing highlighted several areas where heat-treated protein concentrates can offer practical benefits. In pastry glazing, heat-treated chickpea protein concentrate dispersed faster and more easily than native chickpea protein concentrate. It formed fewer clumps, required less shear mixing and produced a slightly more golden glaze when used as an egg-replacement wash on shortcrust pastry. In beverages, adding heat-treated chickpea protein concentrate increased viscosity and gave the finished product more body. This suggests potential value in plant-based drinks where mouthfeel and texture are important. In mayonnaise-style systems, heat-treated fava bean protein concentrate produced a smooth, stable emulsion with a neutral flavour profile. This shows clear potential for sauces, dressings and egg-free emulsified products.

A Functional Ingredient for Future Formulation

Heat treatment creates clear differences compared with native protein concentrates. Clear benefits in areas such as  sensory quality, microbiological performance, dispersibility and powder handling.

For food manufacturers, this opens up opportunities in:

• Plant-based sauces and dressings
• Egg-replacement glazes
• Protein-enriched beverages
• Dry powder blends
• Extruded products
• Bakery and savoury applications

Supporting Better Plant-Based Product Development

As the plant protein market continues to evolve, manufacturers need ingredients that are not only nutritious, but also functional, process-friendly and suitable for a wide range of applications.

ATURA’s heat-treated pulse protein concentrates demonstrate how targeted processing can help improve the performance of plant-based ingredients while supporting cleaner flavour, better handling and broader application potential.

At ATURA Plant Origin Proteins, we are committed to helping brands develop practical, scalable and high-performing plant-based solutions using versatile pulse-derived ingredients.