Study on the structural characteristics of wheat gluten enzymatic hydrolysates and their effect on the texturization degree of high-moisture plant-protein extrudates

This study aimed to explore the structural characteristics of wheat gluten enzymatic hydrolysates (WGEHs) with different hydrolysis degrees, and their effect on the texturization degree of high-moisture plant-protein extrudates. With the increasing hydrolysis time from 0 min to 80 min, the degree of hydrolysis of wheat gluten increased from 0% to 14.39%. Protease broke the network structure of wheat gluten, resulting in the conversion of disulfide bonds to free sulfhydryl groups, and the reduction of orderly α-helix and β-sheet structures. Protease decreased the aggregation degree of wheat gluten and produced more low molecular weight protein, which led to the increase of protein extractability from 38.85% to 55.92%. The surface hydrophobicity and viscoelasticity of wheat gluten were weakened. WGEHs were applied in the production of high-moisture plant-protein extrudates. The texturization degree from 1.70 to 1.05 of the extrudates was decreased with the increase of hydrolysis degree. Moderate enzymatic pretreatment of wheat gluten had a negative correlation with the texturization degree of the extrudates.